How to use discourse in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb

Discourse means verbal exchange, conversation. Example: “The preacher gave us a long discourse on duty.”

Examples of discourse by meaning

nounExpression in words, either speech or writing.

Drawings and pictures are more than mere ornaments in scientific discourse.2012 March, Brian Hayes, “Pixels or Perish”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 19 Feb 2013, page...

nounA formal lengthy exposition of some subject, either spoken or written.

The preacher gave us a long discourse on duty.

nounAn institutionalized way of thinking, a social boundary defining what can be said about a specific topic (after Michel...

Furthermore, it should be recalled from the previous chapter that criminological discourse of the 1930s deemed every woman a potential criminal, implicitly including the domestic woman.2007, Christine L. Marran, Poison Woman: Figuring Female Transgression in Modern Japanese Culture, page 137
But equally important to the emergence of uniquely African-American queer discourses is the refusal of African-American movements for liberation to address adequately issues of sexual orientation and gender identity.2008, Jane Anna Gordon, Lewis Gordon, A Companion to African-American Studies, page 308

nounLengthy, often heated debate over controversial subject matter, particularly within fandom and activist spaces....

We all know — or know now — the Internet meme known as “The Discourse,” which became popular on the social media site Tumblr in April of last year.2016 April 4, “What “The Discourse” Has to Do with Internet Discomfort”, in Medium (blog), retrieved 17 Jun 2025
Nobody will ever know if Gene Roddenberry would hate DS9 had he lived to see it, but the controversy was patient zero for the arguments that define modern Star Trek discourse.2024 August 7, “Star Trek Creator Gene Roddenberry’s Vision Explained”, in Screen Rant (news), retrieved 17 Jun 2025

verbTo produce or emit (musical sounds).

Music discoursed on that melodious instrument, a Jew's harp, keeps the elfin women away from the hunter, because the tongue of the instrument is of steel.1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion, Volume II, Part II, Chapter V, p. 233
Dahl's Silver Cornet Band, augmented for the occasion to the grand total of fourteen pieces, discoursed sweet—well, discoursed music; let us not be too particular as to the quality of it.1915, Ralph Henry Barbour, chapter XXIII, in The Secret Play, New York: D. Appleton & Co., page 300

More sentences with discourse

Some sort of mental and social pathology seemed to sweep over the discourse later that autumn.From the entry pathology
The thinker imprudently dismissed the ontological premises of the argument without engaging in dialectical scrutiny, thereby undermining the epistemic integrity of the discourse.From the entry imprudently
If it is no more than a moral discourse, he may preach it and they may hear it, and yet both continue unconverted heathens.From the entry unconverted
It chimed with an entire discourse of white identity politics festering on the US right.2026 January 21, David Smith, “Trump paints himself as great white hope in racism-drenched Davos speech”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived…. From the entry fester
The rise of populism in an age of celebrification also plays into the coarsening of discourse.2025 January 30, Stephen Humphries, “An uncivil union: Can America break its addiction to violent rhetoric?”, in The Christian Science…. From the entry celebrification
He does so with a manly mechanicalness, his discourse with God too personal for display.2023, Devika Rege, Quarterlife, Dialogue Books (2025), page 315. From the entry mechanicalness
Critically, both nuclearist and anti-nuclearist discourses suggest the identity of the nuclear possessor is irrelevant.2021, Paul Beaumont, Performing Nuclear Weapons: How Britain Made Trident Make Sense, page 101. From the entry nuclearist
The climate wars (it’s been 84 years) continue in Australia’s political discourse.2020 February 24, Amy Remeikis, “Kristina Keneally calls for Bettina Arndt to be stripped of Australia Day honour – politics live”, in…. From the entry it's been 84 years
The neo-positivist stance is by far the dominant discourse of our age.2017, Manu Bazzano, Zen and Therapy: Heretical Perspectives, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN, page 14. From the entry neopositivist
Vaccine hesitancy is an emerging term in the discourse on determinants of vaccine acceptance.2016, WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, Vaccine Safety Communication Guide for Immunization Programme Managers and National…. From the entry vaccine hesitancy
By tagging representations of positive fatness as fatspo, they disrupt the discourse on what bodies are aspirational.2016, Cat Pausé, Jackie Wykes, Samantha Murray, Queering Fat Embodiment, Routledge, →ISBN. From the entry -spo
As Christian discourse unfolds, it regularly blends "biblical" pictorial narration into its own ongoing pictorial narration.2015, Vernon K. Robbins, Jonathan M. Potter, Jesus and Mary Reimagined in Early Christian Literature, →ISBN, page 17. From the entry rhetography
In terms of general discourse one can proceed hyponymously, confirming and making more specific the existing expression.2014, Raymond Monelle, Linguistics and Semiotics in Music, Harwood Academic, (unpaginated). From the entry hyponymously
The discourse of Europeanity is one that combines 'we' with a collective political identity beyond the state.2014, R. Coman, T. Kostera, L. Tomini, Europeanization and European Integration. From the entry Europeanity
By tagging representations of positive fatness as fatspo, they disrupt the discourse of what bodies are aspirational.2014, Cat Pausé, “Causing a Commotion: Queering Fat in Cyberspace”, in Cat Pausé, Samantha Murray, Jackie Wykes, editors, Queering Fat…. From the entry fatspo
Of a discourse to come – on the to-come and repetition.2013, Maria-Daniella Dick, Derrida Wordbook, page 416. From the entry to-come
The discourse of a Shi'ite Crescent and the consequent “Shiaphobia” seem problematic for a number of reasons.2013, Glen Perry, The International Relations of the Contemporary Middle East, page 161. From the entry Shiaphobia
On Favorinus as a champion of adoxographical discourse see Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae XVII, 12, 1–2.2013, Anita Traninger, “Taking Sides and the Prehistory of Impartiality”, in Kathryn Murphy, Anita Traninger, editors, The Emergence of…. From the entry adoxographical
Cisnormative assumptions are tied in with discourses surrounding HIV and STIs.2012 October, Jen Roberton, Emily Milton, “Cisnormative assumptions and queer sex”, in The Strand, volume 55, number 5,29, Victoria…. From the entry cisnormative
Issue of civil discourse will "certainly play a role" in SOTU.2011 January 13, “Gibbs Briefs”, in TIME. From the entry SOTU
They opt for a pure tree structure for discourse relations, keeping anaphoric relations apart.2011, Matthias Irmer, Bridging Inferences, De Gruyter,, →ISBN, page 139. From the entry treeness
Majlesi preached and popularized his discourse with the open support of the Shah.2011, Ali Rahnema, Superstition as Ideology in Iranian Politics: From Majlesi to Ahmadinejad, Cambridge University Press, Part I, Chapter…. From the entry irreligiosity
Do these cultural texts take part in a reverse discourse against the homogenizing penchant of Latinidad?2011, Afif S. Nasreddine, Contemporary Discourses of Latinidad. From the entry latinidad
Synthetic biology, or synbio, has leapt into scientific, commercial, and social discourse with amazing speed.2009, Mark Bünger, (Please provide the book title or journal name). From the entry synbio
The corresponding anacrises are also developed (that is, provocation through discourse or plot situation).2009, Harold Bloom, Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky, →ISBN, page 46. From the entry anacrisis
I avoid swamping the reader in the stereotyped recurrent housewively discourse.2005, Rudrani Fakir, The Goddess and the Slave: The Fakir, the Mother and Maldevelopment, Varanasi: Indica Books, →ISBN, page 228. From the entry housewively
As a result, Palestinians are hyperpresent in Israeli media, while Mizrahim are erased from public discourse.2004, Daniel Lefkowitz, Words and Stones, page 209. From the entry erase
Political correctness cripples discourse, creates ugly language and is generally stupid.2004, George Carlin, When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 72. From the entry political correctness
The rhetoric of anti-corruption was one of the few possible discourses of social criticism.2003, Wolf Lepenies, Entangled Histories and Negotiated Universals: Centers and Peripheries in a Changing World. From the entry anticorruption
By way of discourse, we break out of the immediate surround. . . .2002, Corey Anton, “Discourse as Care: A Phenomenological Consideration of Spatiality and Temporality”, in Human Studies, volume 25…. From the entry temporalize
This type of paradox is fundamental to the Buddhist episteme and informs all aspects of Buddhist discourse.1999, Takeuchi Yoshinori, Buddhist Spirituality: Later China, Korea, Japan, and The Modern World, The Crossroad Publishing Company…. From the entry omnilinguality
I suggest, then, that counterdiscourses, when reductive, tend to emulate the screen discourse that erases gay sociality.1998, Janice Lynn Ristock, Catherine Taylor, Inside the academy and out. From the entry erase

Meaning of discourse

noun Verbal exchange, conversation.
noun Expression in words, either speech or writing.
noun A conversation.

Full definition of discourse

Questions about discourse in a sentence

How do you use discourse in a sentence?: Discourse is used as a noun and verb. For example: “The preacher gave us a long discourse on duty.”
What is a short sentence with discourse?: “The preacher gave us a long discourse on duty.”
What does discourse mean?: Discourse means verbal exchange, conversation.

Adapted from Wiktionary: discourse (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: 2026-09-02

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