How to use epithet in a sentence

30 example sentences · noun, verb

Epithet means a term used to characterize a person or thing. Example: “He was epitheted "the king of fools".”

Examples of epithet by meaning

nounAn abusive or contemptuous word or phrase.

Part of this process was the elaboration of new terms for the Jew, especially the increasingly popular epithet “kike”.2006, Eric L. Goldstein, The Price of Whiteness: Jews, Race, and American Identity
Counterprotesters shouted epithets as they walked by, but the opposing groups kept it nonviolent.2025 January 15, Linda Feldmann, “Outside the DC jail, where Jan. 6 rage and devotion live on”, in The Christian Science Monitor, archived...
Politico reported that epithets appeared more than 251 times.2025 October 15, David W. Chen, Megan Mineiro, “Republicans Face Fallout From Racist and Homophobic Texts”, in The New York Times, New...

verbTo term; to refer to as.

He was epitheted "the king of fools".

More sentences with epithet

In the name "Cannabis sativa subsp. indica", the word indica is the infraspecific epithet.From the entry infraspecific epithet
His testimony at a public hearing was a harbinger of uglier epithets to come.2014 October 14, Rud Istvan, Blowing Smoke: Essays on Energy and Climate, Strategic Book Publishing & Rights Agency, →ISBN. From the entry climatastrophe
On the possible werewolvish significance of the epithet luchthonn, see Kim McCone, ‘Olr.2013, Ralph O’Connor, The Destruction of Da Derga’s Hostel: Kingship and Narrative Artistry in a Mediaeval Irish Saga, Oxford University…. From the entry werewolvish
The colloquial form of the city’s name thus entered the language as a contemptuous epithet.2002, Rachel Crawford, Poetry, enclosure, and the vernacular landscape, 1700–1830, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 160. From the entry brummagem
An epithet to its name, misri, indicates Masr or Egypt as its home.2002, Moustafa Gadalla, Egyptian rhythm: the heavenly melodies, page 107. From the entry Masr
He used exaggeration, vituperation, catch-as-catch-can epithets, slang, facetious Teutonisms, facetious Latinisms, sesquipedalian jocularity.1965, Clifton Fadiman, “Commentary”, in Fifty Years: Being a Retrospective Collection of Novels, Novellas, Tales, Drama, Poetry, and…. From the entry unschoolmarmish
Familiar epithets for the revolver were equalizer, shootin' iron . . . smoke wagon.1950, C. Merton Babcock, “The Vocabulary of Social Life on the American Frontier”, in Western Folklore, volume 9, number 2, page 138. From the entry equalizer
Elliot was the first to match the specific epithet gender with the generic gender: V. mutica rather than V. muticus.2011, H. O. Clark, Jr., “The history of arid-land fox discoveries in North America”, in Archives of natural history, Edinburgh University…. From the entry curtailed fox
Yet to some extent the "swampbilly" epithet was correct.2001, Dan Levine, Avant-Guide New Orleans: Insiders' Guide for Urban Adventurers, Empire Press, →ISBN. From the entry swampbilly
Their use of these words as epithets is an index of an appallingly low level of feminist awareness.1984 December 22, Gayle Rubin, “Censored: Anti-Porn Laws And Women's Liberation”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 23, page 8. From the entry index
The specific epithet commemorates my botanical illustratress.1958, New York Botanical Garden, Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden, volume 10, page 169. From the entry illustratress
To her at least, his self-adopted epithet did not apply.1951, Isaac Asimov, Foundation (1974 Panther Books Ltd publication), part V: “The Merchant Princes”, chapter 16, page 180. From the entry hangdog
If Aphrodite deserves her epithet, she was a blonde.1936 November, Robert Palfrey Utter, Gwendolyn Bridges Needham, Pamela’s Daughters, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, pages 194, 204…. From the entry brune
This sonorous balance of phrase and epithet cannot always escape what Milton himself calls "the heathenish battology of multiplying words."1900, Walter Alexander Raleigh, Milton, page 73. From the entry battology
The area, once given the epithet of "coal country", has seen an increasing decline in economic activities over the past several decades.2017 March 1, Sana Saeed, “In Appalachia, some hope for a future without coal”, in Al Jazeera, archived from the original on 05 Aug 2025. From the entry coal country
He had a way of pronouncing the word "miss" that made it an epithet, a sneer at her unmarried and unmarriageable state.1912, David Graham Phillips, The Price She Paid, Gutenberg, published 2008. From the entry unmarriageable
She alleged that one Rosa Polinska had applied epithets to her and made statements concerning her which no self-respecting lady could tolerate.1903 May 16, “Real Name Was Quite Enough: Kataczyna Andrzewska Was Given a Verdict for Other Names Neighbor Called Her. Regular Polish…. From the entry Poless
And that would mean a species named Leucanthemum leucanthemum, with the genus and species epithet the same (a tautonym), which is a total no-no in botany.2013 August 14, “Is oxeye daisy a Leucanthemum or a Chrysanthemum?”, in Botanical Accuracy. From the entry tautonym
John Mayer has apologised for using a racist epithet in a recent interview with Playboy magazine, after a number of prominent black musicians aired their disapproval.2010 February 11, Rosie Swash, “John Mayer apologises after using N-word in Playboy interview”, in The Guardian. From the entry air
“Despite the pseudoclinical patina of these epithets, they were just part of an editorial arsenal that seeks to demonize a suspect before he even reaches trial.”2007 June 15, Anemona Hartocollis, “Writer Expresses Remorse for Sex Attack, but Still Claims He Is Ill”, in New York Times. From the entry pseudoclinical
There is a phenomenon in stock market investment known as "seasonality." In Canada we sometimes summarize it with the epithet "Buy when it snows, sell when it goes."2007 May 10, Peter McKenzie-Brown, “Sell in May and Stay Away!”, in Language Matters, retrieved 13 Oct 2015. From the entry buy when it snows, sell when it goes
He rejected the epithet with considerable acerbity, not because he was secretly a one-sided adulator of libido, but because, quite simply; he thought that his denigrators were wrong.2006, Peter Gay, Freud: A Life for Our Time, W. W. Norton & Company, →ISBN, page 149. From the entry pansexualist
Not at ease in calling for their creative wits they remained stuck with the trivial epithet "Euro", which by then a good deal of Europeans had turned nEurotic at.1998 March 19, Wugi, “Calling the single currency names”, in talk.politics.european-union (Usenet), archived from the original on 19 Jun…. From the entry fathren
The use of newcoined abusing epithets , such as "non dynamic", against theories of other than quantum field ones, does not solve any energy level problem.1986, The Blinsern Theoretic Research Team, Theoretic Papers, page 38. From the entry newcoin
It vividly recalls the use of the same epithet in the name The Seven Haley Isles, a seamen's noa term for the Flannan Islands (SGS, xi, 88).1968, Scottish Gaelic Studies, page 25. From the entry noa
Only certain epithets and metaphors were authorized; themes were similarly restricted, metres fixed, and Cynghanedd, the repetitive use of consonantal sequences with variation of vowels, became a burdensome obsession.1948 (revised 1952), Robert Graves, The White Goddess, Faber & Faber 1999, p. 14. From the entry cynghanedd

Meaning of epithet

noun A term used to characterize a person or thing.
noun A term used as a qualifier of the name of a deity in order to designate said deity in a particular aspect or role.
noun A term used as a descriptive substitute for the name or title of a person.

Full definition of epithet

Questions about epithet in a sentence

How do you use epithet in a sentence?: Epithet is used as a noun and verb. For example: “He was epitheted "the king of fools".”
What is a short sentence with epithet?: “He was epitheted "the king of fools".”
What does epithet mean?: Epithet means a term used to characterize a person or thing.

Adapted from Wiktionary: epithet (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 epithet in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/epithet. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.