Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use ability in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun

Ability means suitableness. Example: “This phone has the ability to have its software upgraded wirelessly.”

Examples of ability by meaning

nounThe quality or state of being able; capacity to do or of doing something; having the necessary power.

  • This phone has the ability to have its software upgraded wirelessly.
  • This wood has the ability to fight off insects, fungus, and mold for a considerable time.
  • Charging school fees is illegal, and so is sorting pupils into ability groups by streaming or setting.2013 July 19, Peter Wilby, “Finland spreads word on schools”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 30

nounThe legal wherewithal to act.

  • The ability to shift profits to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them, which is then licensed to related businesses in high-tax countries, is often assumed to be the preserve of high-tech companies.2013 June 22, “T time”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 68

nounA skill or competence in doing; mental power; talent; aptitude.

  • a mixed-ability class
  • They are persons of ability, who will go far in life.
  • She has an uncanny ability to defuse conflict.

More sentences with ability

  • Our contraction of debt in this quarter has reduced our ability to attract investors.From the entry contraction
  • The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.From the entry thought
  • Michelangelo was a very ambidextrous artist, producing sculptures and frescoes with equal ability.From the entry ambidextrous
  • Legumes are valued in crop rotation for their ability to fix nitrogen.From the entry fix
  • From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.From the entry each
  • Being a good waiter takes more than the ability to ferry plates of food around a restaurant.From the entry ferry
  • Barbara Cartland was renowned for her ability to churn out romantic novels.From the entry churn out
  • The ability to reproduce is a defining characteristic of living organisms.From the entry defining
  • Most gishes use their magical abilities to increase their own personal combat abilities (known as "buffing").From the entry gish
  • He has the ability to bring forth new ideas when they are needed.From the entry bring forth
  • Progressive taxes attempt to reduce the tax burden of people with a lower ability to pay.From the entry ability to pay
  • Time to crack out your new super-jump ability and finally beat this level.From the entry crack out
  • Look at the amount of destruction to the enemy base. We pretty much killed their ability to retaliate.From the entry kill
  • Kangaroos are known for their ability to jump high.From the entry jump
  • His achievements bear testimony to his ability.From the entry bear
  • Unlike general lossless data compression algorithms, succinct data structures retain the ability to use them in-place, without decompressing them first.From the entry succinct
  • The team's victory reflects the Captain's abilities.From the entry reflect
  • The teacher's ability reflects well on the school.From the entry reflect
  • The ability to take responsibility is a sign of maturity.From the entry maturity
  • His writing ability was marginal at best.From the entry marginal
  • He had the ability to reinvent himself as needed.From the entry reinvent
  • The two business partners had complementary abilities: one had excellent people skills, while the other had a head for figures.From the entry complementary
  • Because they are generally quite thick, old telephone books are sometimes used in informal tests of a weapon's cutting ability.From the entry telephone book
  • His salary is commensurable to his ability.From the entry commensurable
  • The site has the ability to demonetize a video.From the entry demonetize
  • Anterograde amnesia is a loss of the ability to create new memories after the event that caused the amnesia.From the entry anterograde
  • Part of the magic of her poetry was her ability to have her words assonate in the most propitious places.From the entry assonate
  • His ability is on a par with his ambition.From the entry on a par
  • Vince knew that his ability to come up with a catchy hook would make or break his song.From the entry make or break
  • One advantage of asymmetric cryptography is that you can exchange data without sharing the ability to read it.From the entry asymmetric cryptography
  • The Tarahumara are renowned for their long-distance running ability.From the entry Tarahumara
  • Her fine work attested her ability.From the entry attest
  • His ability to switch-hit left the manager with a tough decision whether to bring in a left-handed or a right-handed relief pitcher.From the entry switch-hit

Meaning of ability

  1. noun Suitableness.
  2. noun The quality or state of being able; capacity to do or of doing something; having the necessary power.
  3. noun The legal wherewithal to act.

Full definition of ability

Questions about ability in a sentence

How do you use ability in a sentence?
Ability is used as a noun. For example: “This phone has the ability to have its software upgraded wirelessly.”
What is a short sentence with ability?
“a mixed-ability class”
What does ability mean?
Ability means suitableness.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ability (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use ability in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/ability. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.