Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use controlling in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, noun

Controlling means exerting control over a person or thing. Example: “His mother is very controlling.”

Examples of controlling by meaning

adjectiveExerting control over a person or thing.

  • His mother is very controlling.

More sentences with controlling

  • A buyout is the purchase of a controlling interest in a company.From the entry controlling interest
  • The controlling party had apportioned the voting districts such that their party would be favored in the next election.From the entry apportion
  • I think it's moral to insubordinate against a controlling boss.From the entry insubordinate
  • The court intervened to reapportion the voting districts that had been unfairly laid out under the controlling party's regime.From the entry reapportion
  • The impact on workers is fairly obvious but I believe that managerial jobs have also been deskilled by the adoption of controlling systems and procedures.From the entry deskill
  • Chew — who travels with a small security detail — is the controlling force at TikTok.2024 May 3, Jacob Bernstein, Madison Malone Kircher, Sapna Maheshwari, “TikTok’s Boss Goes From Reserved Tech Exec to Met Gala Chair”, in…. From the entry security detail
  • Marty and I often discussed the choice we all have in controlling our cognition.2021, Lisa Miller, The Awakened Brain, Ch.2, at p.37. From the entry apollonian
  • A therapeutic manner that is too self-assured and controlling is a dead giveaway.2018, John W. Barnhill, Approach to the Psychiatric Patient, page 451. From the entry giveaway
  • This step-mother was cold-natured, controlling, mean-spirited and completely overbearing, at least from Berneice's perspective.2014, Dawn Maree Ketteringham, Richard Ketteringham, Revolving Doors, →ISBN. From the entry cold-natured
  • The Aspergian need for R&R—ritual and routine—is a way of controlling our world.2010, Rudy Simone, Aspergirls: Empowering Females with Asperger Syndrome, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, published 2010, →ISBN, page 147. From the entry Aspergian
  • The materials released did not ignite before the deluge system was manually activated, controlling the incident.2009 January 13, National Transportation Safety Board, “Earlier Western Accidents”, in Special Investigation Report: Mobile Acetylene…. From the entry deluge
  • Foliar fungicides are not economical for controlling brown leaf spot on most commercial long grain varieties.2009, Samuel S. Gnanamanickam, Biological Control of Rice Diseases, →ISBN, page 35. From the entry brown leaf spot
  • O5-8 does an impressive job of controlling himself, keeping his attention focused on Marion.2008–2021, qntm, “We Need To Talk About Fifty-Five”, in There Is No Antimemetics Division, →ISBN, page 13. From the entry sweep
  • What Napoléon did not understand was the importance of controlling the seas.2008, Richard W[allace] Mansbach, Kirsten L. Taylor, Introduction to International Relations, Routledge, →ISBN. From the entry Napoléonic Wars
  • What he liked to call helpful, however, was more like Gwen's idea of controlling and manipulative.2004, Elaine Cunningham, Shadows In The Darkness, Tor/Forge, →ISBN, page 49. From the entry potayto, potahto
  • I loved pursuing him, and he loved controlling me with his mangina.1999, Scott Capurro, Fowl Play, London: Headline Book Publishing, published 2000, →ISBN, page 216. From the entry mangina
  • I was a sleepwalker, incapable of controlling or recalling my nocturnal activities.1989, Elaine K. Stirling, Sleepwalker, page 184. From the entry sleepwalker
  • They had anticipated the “withering away” of a state that has only become more controlling and omnipotent.1989, L[eften] S[tavros] Stavrianos, Lifelines from Our Past: A New World History, New York: Pantheon Books, →ISBN, page 225. From the entry classless
  • Enforcing a security policy means controlling the rights users can acquire to data.1987 November, Richard Y. Kain, Carl E. Landwehr, “On Access Checking in Capability-Based Systems”, in IEEE Transactions on Software…. From the entry capability
  • The first of these three attacks involves controlling the point of the shinai.1987, Michel Random, translated by Cyprian P. Blamires, “The way of the sword and kendō”, in Japan: Strategy of the Unseen: A Guide for…. From the entry kendōka
  • They grow their sprouts at home, thus controlling all aspects of their diet.1985, Joel Rose, The Vegetarian Connection, page 21. From the entry sproutarian
  • Being aware of why you are miseating is a requirement in controlling this miseating.1980, Glenn, But I Don't Eat That Much, page 38. From the entry miseat
  • In practice, the Ruritanian regime is autocratic, controlling business, government, finance, and military posts.1968, Robert Ellsworth Elder, The Information Machine, page 339. From the entry Ruritanian
  • Much of this was achieved via 'natural wastage' - controlling recruitment closely and not replacing staff as they retired.2023 March 22, Mike Esbester, “Staff, the public and industry will suffer”, in RAIL, number 979, page 39. From the entry natural wastage
  • Hamilton drafted Bottas down to Turn One and took the lead around the outside, controlling the race from there.2020 September 13, Andrew Benson, “Tuscan Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton claims 90th win after incredible race”, in BBC Sport. From the entry draft
  • Democrats have the luxury of controlling the public narrative, thanks, in large part, to their incestuous relationship with the news media.2019 November 14, Tim Bryce, “What I Have Learned About the Democrats”, in Bryce on Politics, LinkedIn. From the entry incestuous
  • Drawing on texts recommended in curricula and controlling for two countries with benchmarked curricula improves the external representativeness of the corpus.2018, Clarence Green, James Lambert, “Advancing disciplinary literacy through English for academic purposes: Discipline-specific…. From the entry curriculum
  • Ines described her first godfather as so controlling that he didn't permit his godchildren to talk with each other.2016, C. Lynn Carr, A Year in White: Cultural Newcomers to Lukumi and Santería in the United States, Rutgers University Press, →ISBN. From the entry godsibling
  • Senate and governor and the Obama performance among whites, while controlling for incumbency in the contest, the following patterns emerge.2016, Charles S. Bullock, Ronald Keith Gaddie, Justin J. Wert, The Rise and Fall of the Voting Rights Act, →ISBN. From the entry down-ticket
  • Controlling what is communicated from your company will help keep pump-and-dumpers and smoke-blowers from getting material for playing the misinterpretation game.2013, Ralph A. Rieves, John Lefebvre, Investor Relations for the Emerging Company. From the entry smoke-blower
  • “Invasivore” diets were increasingly encouraged as a hopeful means of controlling unwanted species like lionfish, Asian carp, and green mitten crabs.2012, Larry Perez, Snake in the Grass: An Everglades Invasion, Pineapple Press, →ISBN, page 97. From the entry invasivore
  • Mustin, controlling the after trio of five-inch mounts, and Nickelson slewed their directors onto the lights and opened fire immediately.2011, James D. Hornfischer, “28: Into the Light”, in Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal, New York: Bantam Books, →ISBN…. From the entry slew
  • Both are good methods of controlling height and maintaining vigor on plants that would normally grow to a large size.2011, Edward F. Gilman, An Illustrated Guide to Pruning, 3rd edition, Clifton Park, N.Y.: Delmar, Cengage Learning, →ISBN, page 411. From the entry pollard
  • Wilhelm controlling a majority of Unite Here’s board, Mr.2009 May 30, Steven Greenhouse, “Leader of Garment and Hotel Workers’ Union Resigns”, in New York Times. From the entry intraunion
  • Vetiver grass is the only species that is effective for controlling soil erosion on steep terrains (30 and 60% slope).2008, Humberto Blanco-Canqui, Principles of Soil Conservation and Management, page 237. From the entry vetiver
  • By controlling matter at this size, nanotechnologists hope to fabricate devices and materials with novel, seemingly magical properties.2007 September 23, Jason Pontin, “In Tiny Particles, a Big Link in Jerusalem”, in New York Times. From the entry nanotechnologist
  • Catholic bloke - DTMFA, she's too self-centred and controlling.2007 January 17, Phil Carmody, “Re: Childfree Abby - Odour of Sancticity Group”, in alt.support.childfree (Usenet). From the entry DTMFA
  • Possibly, you'll be controlling only the fragment identifier rather than the entire URL, but even the fragment identifier has usability implications.2006, Michael Mahemoff, Ajax Design Patterns, O'Reilly Media, →ISBN, page 523. From the entry fragment
  • The existence of animal spirits does not imply that "irrational psychology" is the controlling factor in business and economics.2005, Roger S. Frantz, Two minds: intuition and analysis in the history of economic thought, page 91. From the entry animal spirits

Meaning of controlling

  1. adjective Exerting control over a person or thing.
  2. noun The act of exerting control.

Full definition of controlling

Questions about controlling in a sentence

How do you use controlling in a sentence?
Controlling is used as an adjective and noun. For example: “His mother is very controlling.”
What is a short sentence with controlling?
“His mother is very controlling.”
What does controlling mean?
Controlling means exerting control over a person or thing.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: controlling (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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