Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use anoint in a sentence

15 example sentences · verb

Anoint means to smear or rub over with oil or an unctuous substance; also, to spread over, as oil. Example: “But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face.”

Examples of anoint by meaning

verbTo choose or nominate somebody for a leading or otherwise important position, especially formally or officially, or as...

  • Unlike other previous Prelates, who were swiftly anointed bishops, Francis did not follow suit.2024 March 16, Antonia Cundy, “The Opus Dei diaries”, in FT Weekend, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 18

More sentences with anoint

  • But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face.From the entry fastest
  • “How scary is it, in a culture of chosenness, to be the anointed king who’s rejected?”2009 May 2, Samuel G. Freedman, “In ‘Kings,’ Television Tackles the Conflicted Saul”, in New York Times. From the entry chosenness
  • Vatican watchers have already anointed the Honduran prelate papabile or “popeable.”2001 February 20, May Ying Welsh, “Latin Cardinals hint at Church's future”, in CNN. From the entry papabile
  • You would then be anointed with infallible remedies -- say, live earworms mashed into alcohol.1971, Dorothy Dunnett, The Ringed Castle, Vintage, published 1997, →ISBN, page 224. From the entry marthambles
  • Witches always anointed themselves with ointments before departing up the chimney to their Sabbaths.1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 112. From the entry sabbath
  • God's life, death should be thy doom for so misguarding thy lord, the anointed of Jehovah!1924, William Canton, The Bible Story, page 206. From the entry misguard
  • MICAH STAMPLEY has indeed manifested in the music ministry as a superphenomenally anointed voice for the Kingdom of God.2005, Micah Stampley, The Songbook Of Micah. From the entry superphenomenally
  • O anointed with dust, What dry in your throat makes barren your tongue This winterward moment my presence has sung?1958, Contact - Issues 1-3. From the entry winterward
  • The most sacred part of the ceremony followed when the new king was anointed with holy oil to confirm his semi-divine status.2021, Tracy Borman, Crown and Sceptre: A New History of the British Monarchy, from William the Conqueror to Elizabeth II, Grove Atlantic…. From the entry insignia
  • Since the mainstream media anoints only a few scholars as thought leaders or public intellectuals, the work of some marginalized scholars remains underappreciated.2017, Nyasha Junior, “The Scholarly Network”, in Journal of Biblical Literature, volume 136, number 1, →DOI, page 126. From the entry signal boost
  • The Lord has allowed me to see a striking similarity between this heavenly anointed cherub and this earthly anointed cherub (messenger) of God.2010, Patricia Ann Sunday, Jimmy Swaggart: the Anointed Cherub That Covereth, page 1. From the entry earthly
  • He was uneasy about being linked indiscriminately to other novelists she had anointed but whose work he did not respect, and she got wind of his discontent.2015, Philip Weinstein, Jonathan Franzen: The Comedy of Rage, Bloomsbury Publishing USA, →ISBN. From the entry Oprah
  • His palms were anointed with chrism and the oil of catechumens; he alone among laymen could now handle the chalice and drink of the Precious Blood at Mass.2010, Elena Maria Vidal, Madame Royale: A Novel, →ISBN, page 253. From the entry Precious Blood
  • An old traditional prescription for provoking erotic inclinations ran as follows, The toe of the foot of a man, anointed with oil, or honey, or the ashes of a weasel.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 234. From the entry toe

Meaning of anoint

  1. verb To smear or rub over with oil or an unctuous substance; also, to spread over, as oil.
  2. verb To apply oil to or to pour oil upon, etc., as a sacred rite, especially for consecration.
  3. verb To choose or nominate somebody for a leading or otherwise important position, especially formally or officially, or as an intended successor.

Full definition of anoint

Questions about anoint in a sentence

How do you use anoint in a sentence?
Anoint is used as a verb. For example: “But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face.”
What is a short sentence with anoint?
“Vatican watchers have already anointed the Honduran prelate papabile or “popeable.””
What does anoint mean?
Anoint means to smear or rub over with oil or an unctuous substance; also, to spread over, as oil.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: anoint (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.

Last updated:

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