Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use ceremonial in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, noun

Ceremonial means of, relating to, consisting of, or used in a ceremony. Example: “We learned that their language had various names for the Supreme Being, some more ceremonial than others.”

Examples of ceremonial by meaning

adjectiveOf, relating to, consisting of, or used in a ceremony.

  • Philomena Guinea's black Cadillac eased through the tight, five o'clock traffic like a ceremonial car.1963, Sylvia Plath, chapter 15, in The Bell Jar, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, published 1972, page 151
  • By Adamcos,” said Catweazle, drawing his ceremonial knife.1970, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 28

nounA ceremony, or series of ceremonies, prescribed by ritual.

  • I have been in favour of ceremonial and patterns all my life, and I have no desire to break the funeral pattern.1972, Robertson Davies, chapter 5, in The Manticore, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, published 2015

More sentences with ceremonial

  • We learned that their language had various names for the Supreme Being, some more ceremonial than others.From the entry supreme being
  • The beginner of the games lit the ceremonial torch.From the entry beginner
  • The priest proceeds to pour bowl after bowl of ceremonial water on our scalps.2022 November 26, Virginia Feito, “Sweating Through a Honeymoon in Paradise”, in The New York Times. From the entry urinary tract infection
  • Traditionally these are gifts of money packed in red envelopes given and received with ceremonial reverence.2017, “China and the Next Production Revolution”, in The Next Production Revolution: Implications for Governments and Business, Paris…. From the entry hongbao
  • They wave it to cast a ceremonial blessing on their opinions.2016 March 21, Jim Burklo, “The Mindful Mirror of Passion Week”, in HuffPost, archived from the original on 26 Jun 2025. From the entry constitutionolatry
  • The basalt was also piled to outline large squares in the ceremonial centres known as heiaus.2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 52. From the entry heiau
  • A kind of Neolithic ceremonial monument comprising a rectangular enclosure defined by a bank with external ditches.2002, Timothy Darvill, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology, Oxford, Oxon: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 111, column 1. From the entry cursūs
  • But she can be made more ceremonial; she can be made wifier.1994 December 25, Joel Achenbach, “These Are Delicate Times For Nation's First Lady”, in The Buffalo News. From the entry wifier
  • It is a ceremonial by which a momentarily injured sovereignty is reconstituted.1979, Michel Foucault, translated by Alan Sheridan, Discipline and Punish, page 55. From the entry reconstitute
  • The villages are divided into two patrilineal totemic moieties and two patrilineal ceremonial moieties.1973, Francis Korn, “A Question of Preferences: The Iatmül Case”, in Elementary Structures Reconsidered: Lévi-Strauss on Kinship…. From the entry moiety
  • At his daughter Clara’s nuptials, Twain wore a scarlet ceremonial robe, a choice designed to steal the show.2025 May 9, Danny Heitman, “Mark Twain’s legacy is not his tall tales. It’s his larger-than-life persona.”, in The Christian Science Monitor. From the entry the bride at every wedding
  • One ceremonial food was "Yokeag." One year old yellow corn kernels were parched and ground to fine meal.2014, Gladys Tantaquidgeon, “An Affectionate Portrait of Frank Speck”, in Siobhan Senier, editor, Dawnland Voices: An Anthology of…. From the entry yokeag
  • I WOULD HAVE been nine or ten when my mother chased me up a thorn tree with a ceremonial hippo-hide whip.2010 August 3, David Bennun, Tick Bite Fever, Random House, page 109. From the entry thorn tree
  • Ceremonial masks, Hindu deities, and pietàs shine down on you.2009, Pico Iyer, “5: Making Kindness Stand to Reason”, in Rajiv Mehrotra, editor, Understanding the Dalai Lama, page 61. From the entry pietà
  • Union executives are available for ceremonial celebrations of growth (ribbon cuttings, announcements of government contracts, urban redevelopment ground breakings).2007, John R. Logan, Harvey Luskin Molotch, Harvey Molotch, Urban Fortunes: The Political Economy of Place, page 81. From the entry ground-breaking
  • Some might say that the hanukkiah is decorations, but it isn't; the hanukkiah is a ceremonial object, with specific, non-decorative purposes.2005 December 23, Jonathan Safran Foer, “A Beginner's Guide to Hanukkah”, in The New York Times. From the entry hanukkiah
  • Though men typically did not wear hats, they could wear a ceremonial form of headwear known as a corona, or crown.2004, Sara Pendergast, Tom Pendergast, edited by Sarah Hermsen, Fashion, Costume, and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and…. From the entry corona
  • I would have been nine or ten when my mother chased me up a thorn tree with a ceremonial hippo-hide whip.2003, David Bennun, “After the Earthquake”, in Tick Bite Fever, London: Ebury Press, published 2004, →ISBN, page 109. From the entry obnoxious
  • Three elders dressed in their long silk ceremonial gowns perform the kowtow before the altar in their clan ancestral hall.1990, Hugh D. R. Baker, Hong Kong Images: People and Animals, Hong Kong University Press, →ISBN, page 93. From the entry kowtow
  • Ladislao, back on deck, watched the three other ceremonial unbucklings.1978, Francis Steegmuller, Silence at Salerno: A Comedy of Intrigue, page 148. From the entry unbuckling
  • The peristyle is a roofed structure, open at the sides, in which most of the ceremonials and dances take place.1953, Maya Deren, Divine Horsemen, McPherson & Company, published 2004, page 47. From the entry peristyle
  • The vever, as a cabbala-like method of invoking the gods, was included as a primary ceremonial device in Rada.1953, Maya Deren, Divine Horsemen, McPherson & Company, published 2004, page 69. From the entry veve
  • In the first of a series of almost ceremonial deaths, one Indian rams his model T into an imitation totem pole.1923, Henry Robinson Luce, Briton Hadden, editors, Time. From the entry Model T
  • James Wilkie Broderick Instastoried a snap of himself wearing his ceremonial robe over a suit alongside his 15-year-old twin sisters Tabitha and Loretta.2025 May 29, Cassie Carpenter, “Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick's son James graduates from Brown University as she reveals…. From the entry Instastory
  • In etiquette manuals they may be described as incentives to a conversation, but in practice they seem to have been quite ceremonial.2013, Peter Andersson, Streetlife in Late Victorian London: The Constable and the Crowd. From the entry tipping
  • Among the medieval treasures at Blumka are a lion aquamanile, a vessel used by priests for ceremonial hand washing, with a magnificent tufted tail.2007 October 19, Karen Rosenberg, “Sacred Works in Secular Places”, in New York Times. From the entry aquamanile
  • Decorated tumis such as this one may have been used for ceremonial purposes, although their utilization on more mundane occasions should not be ruled out.2004, Richard L. Burger, Lucy C. Salazar, “Catalogue”, in Richard L. Burger, Lucy C. Salazar, editors, Machu Picchu: Unveiling the Mystery…. From the entry tumi
  • His cursus from Fréjus to Paris turned into a triumphal march, with whole towns and villages staging ceremonial entrées for him and cheering his passage.2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 574. From the entry cursus
  • May your life be extended.’ I touched my head, eyes and heart, in a suitably ceremonial way. ‘Thou talkest like a book’, he muttered.1987, Idries Shah, “Pliny Rules in Badgersden”, in Adventures, Facts and Fantasy in Darkest England, London: The Octagon Press, →ISBN…. From the entry talk like a book
  • While retaining many ceremonial elements of the bridal shower, the groomal differs in several ways, most notably in that the honoree is a man.1981 July, Felix M. Berardo, Hernan Vera, “The Groomal Shower: A Variation of the American Bridal Shower”, in Family Relations, volume 30…. From the entry groomal shower
  • No potlatch or secret society initiation could be given by a tribal member until the chief had officially opened the winter ceremonial season.[1951], Viola E[dmundson] Garfield, “Part 1: The Tsimshian and Their Neighbors”, in Viola E. Garfield, Paul S. Wingert, Marius Barbeau…. From the entry potlatch
  • She gave her first performance at the Philharmonic Auditorium in Los Angeles, offering festival dances, Moro tribal rituals, primitive jungle rhythms and rice harvest ceremonials.1939 January 8, The Tribune, Manila, page 13, column 2. From the entry jungle
  • Man, still slave to the button and the razor, clings to the ancient ceremonial of potter and gets himself up by instalments.1937, Dorothy L. Sayers, Busman's Honeymoon. From the entry whirligig of time
  • Louis had adopted the same dainty stance – left leg forward, toes pointed, foot arched – in Rigaud's justly famous swagger portrait of the monarch in full ceremonial regalia.2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 2. From the entry swagger portrait
  • It was the first time a Minister ever left the country without a ceremonial goodbye and a shake hands at the airport, with the tall hats being doffed.1967 July 27, Jack McQuillan, Livestock Marts Bill, 1967: Second Stage (Resumed). Seanad Debates, Vol.63 No.12 p.4 col.928. From the entry shake hands
  • Part of the ceremonial was the putting of Master Blount into my arms, which was done very gingerly, with abundant cautions and precautions against my crushing or dropping him.1917, George W. Gough, chapter 19, in The Yeoman Adventurer. From the entry ikkle
  • The first thing I did was to spread out the letters from Augusta on our sofa, photograph them and send him a ceremonial video, prim, with a thick British accent.2018 April 5, Vandini Sharma, “The Masters through the eyes of a 16-year-old from India”, in Princeton Daily Clarion, volume 171, number…. From the entry Hogwartsian

Meaning of ceremonial

  1. adjective Of, relating to, consisting of, or used in a ceremony.
  2. adjective Used only for the purpose of ceremony; symbolic.
  3. adjective Synonym of ceremonious (“of a person: fond of ceremony or ritual, or of observing strict etiquette or formality; punctilious”).

Full definition of ceremonial

Questions about ceremonial in a sentence

How do you use ceremonial in a sentence?
Ceremonial is used as an adjective and noun. For example: “We learned that their language had various names for the Supreme Being, some more ceremonial than others.”
What is a short sentence with ceremonial?
“By Adamcos,” said Catweazle, drawing his ceremonial knife.”
What does ceremonial mean?
Ceremonial means of, relating to, consisting of, or used in a ceremony.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ceremonial (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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