matronly

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of matronly Pinkham’s matronly smile, printed on labels and advertisements, became as well known as Mona Lisa’s. Shayla Love, The Atlantic, 30 Jan. 2025 Every few days, a matronly Spanish woman appeared at the fountain to give me a plastic bag with bananas and bread, and sometimes little packets of butter and jam. Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 8 Jan. 2024 Transforming the elegant British, non-Jewish actress into the matronly prime minister required prosthetics for the cheeks, chin, nose and neck, plus contact lenses and a wig. Valli Herman, Los Angeles Times, 1 Jan. 2024 Mary’s childhood has all of the workhouse tragedy of a Dickens novel, plus insufficient scenes of Susan Lynch as a stern, matronly figure from her youth. Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019 See All Example Sentences for matronly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for matronly
Adjective
  • The British designer made a stealthy comeback in 2023 with a namesake label hinged on her brand of modern minimalism, womanly allure and uncompromising quality.
    WWD Staff, Footwear News, 10 Sep. 2025
  • McQuarrie’s feats lack the comic timing, composition, and emotionalism that cartoonist-director Brad Bird brought to the thrilling Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (Ethan/Tom spider-walking the Burj Khalifa skyscraper and outrunning a dust storm, Paula Patton’s womanly catfight with Léa Seydoux).
    Armond White, National Review, 23 May 2025
Adjective
  • The expressive eyes, hyper-pigmented blush, and ultra-feminine style are all part of her signature face.
    Essence, Essence, 1 Oct. 2025
  • Her subsequent press wardrobe, in comparison, has delighted in her signature red carpet and glitzy event style, with super-feminine, dramatic silhouettes and princessy aesthetics.
    Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 1 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Having female service members with the male combat troops allowed the military to speak to female civilians to get information or to provide help.
    Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 4 Oct. 2025
  • About a half hour earlier, deputies with the department responded to a weapons disturbance call after a female family member alerted authorities that Lacy had allegedly been involved in a verbal argument with her and had discharged a firearm into the ground.
    Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 4 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • But the show’s matriarchal power structures, which involved women like Mare forever cleaning up the messes their male relatives made, were carefully shaded.
    Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 17 Sep. 2025
  • Bees are matriarchal, with a queen bee in charge of the hive.
    Elizabeth Bass Parman, PEOPLE, 7 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Matronly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/matronly. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.

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