as in principle
formal
a statement or well-known remark that expresses an important idea, observation, or opinion
A doctor must follow the dictum of "First, do no harm."
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Recent Examples of dictum
At a Vanity Fair party, Diddy admonished Nash because Cassie’s hair was not in keeping with his dictum.
—
Victoria Bekiempis, Vulture, 28 May 2025
Those organizing in opposition to pipelines in South Dakota, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Rhode Island carry the dictum on their lips.
—Elizabeth Rush, The Atlantic, 26 May 2025
Ultimately, the old dictum still stands – Garbage in, garbage out.
—Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes.com, 20 May 2025
But for political principals to insist on editing procedures or outcomes is certainly inconsistent with the First Amendment’s dictum regarding the press and maintaining the media’s freedom from government interference.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 25 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dictum
Victoria Bekiempis, Vulture, 28 May 2025
Those organizing in opposition to pipelines in South Dakota, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Rhode Island carry the dictum on their lips.
—Elizabeth Rush, The Atlantic, 26 May 2025
Ultimately, the old dictum still stands – Garbage in, garbage out.
—Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes.com, 20 May 2025
But for political principals to insist on editing procedures or outcomes is certainly inconsistent with the First Amendment’s dictum regarding the press and maintaining the media’s freedom from government interference.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 25 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dictum
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dictum
Noun
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Sissy was the aunt of Patricia Arquette’s Harmony Cobel and is a deep believer in the principles of Lumon.—
Liza Esquibias,
PEOPLE,
7 Sep. 2025
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The principles were conveyed to Hamas, the officials said, which has not yet issued a response.—
Tal Shalev,
CNN Money,
7 Sep. 2025
Noun
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All in all, Southern small talk rules are a fickle thing to follow.—
Kaitlyn Yarborough,
Southern Living,
7 Sep. 2025
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Lawmakers in many states have changed the rules in recent decades to protect winners from being targeted by criminals and unscrupulous people asking for money.—
Safiyah Riddle,
Chicago Tribune,
6 Sep. 2025
Noun
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In another example, Francis came out in support of civil unions for same-sex couples, something previously opposed by the Vatican’s doctrine office.—
Christopher Lamb,
CNN Money,
6 Sep. 2025
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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Because on August 29, a federal appellate court shut the door on that doctrine.—
Brett Erickson,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Sep. 2025
Noun
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This is an axiom; indeed, delegation is one of the first skills typically required of new managers.—
Harvard Business Review,
Harvard Business Review,
24 Aug. 2025
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However, as Hooker suggests, the training of modern AI models defies that axiom.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
1 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The grants were allocated under President Joe Biden's signature Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, an anti-gun violence law signed after the mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.—
Oren Oppenheim,
ABC News,
9 Sep. 2025
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Aside from his signature 2021 criminal justice bill, Cooper signed legislation into law in 2020, allowing judges to reduce mandatory minimum sentences mandated by law for drug offenders.—
Emily Hallas,
The Washington Examiner,
8 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
However, amid the confusion of new strains, changing vaccine guidelines and cuts to vaccine development funding, the CDC continues to track cases, hospitalizations and deaths on a weekly basis.—
Mary Walrath-Holdridge,
USA Today,
9 Sep. 2025
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So is this a call to get your hsCRP levels checked on a regular basis?—
Sarah Garone,
Health,
9 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The Sonicare brushing app is proof that this maxim couldn’t be truer.—
BestReviews,
Mercury News,
29 Aug. 2025
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There's a maxim in the intelligence community always about speaking truth to power.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
24 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dictum.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dictum. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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