Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use penetrating in a sentence

29 example sentences · adjective

Penetrating means able to pierce or penetrate. Example: “The skunk produces a penetrating odor.”

Examples of penetrating by meaning

adjectiveAble to pierce or penetrate.

  • The skunk produces a penetrating odor.

adjectiveLooking deeply into; piercing.

  • He had a very penetrating pair of brown eyes.

adjectiveDemonstrating acute or keen understanding.

  • His novel shows a penetrating insight into the criminal mind.

More sentences with penetrating

  • While dealing with this world, one must cultivate a penetrating, clear and unsullied this-worldliness.2015, Tridip Suhrud, translating Govardhanram Madhavram Tripathi, Sarasvatichandra I, Orient BlackSwan 2015, p. 291. From the entry this-worldliness
  • Harsh ratcheting sounds came from outside the SUV, penetrating the constant feed from the military band radio.2013, Mel Odom, Renegade, Tyndale, →ISBN, page 162. From the entry militaryspeak
  • With light penetrating to the lake bottom, beds of seaweed flourished where little had grown before.1995, Dan McCosh, “Aliens among us”, in Popular Science, page 94. From the entry seaweed
  • Hyaloclasts occur partly between the individual lava flows, partly in the vents penetrating the volcanic formations.1974, Acta Geologica, volume 18, page 388. From the entry hyaloclast
  • A brawny edema of the labia, with deeply penetrating destructive ulcers may occur in the late stages.1960, Laman Alexander Gray, A Text Book of Gynecology, page 47. From the entry blue balls
  • Davis had no difficulty hearing, so beautifully penetrating is good news.1921 July 2, Annie Hamilton Donnell, “Do-As-You-Please Day: A Fourth of July Story”, in The Christian Herald […], volume 44, number 27…. From the entry Fourth of July
  • Penetrating sealant, a protective formula applied to the stone, soaks into the material, and topdressings form a protective skin on top.2012, Lisa Godsey, Interior Design Materials and Specifications, page 313. From the entry topdressing
  • Cellular shades can be used to block sunlight from penetrating the lower parts of windows in late spring and early fall.2011 July 1, Dan Chiras, The Homeowner's Guide to Renewable Energy: Achieving Energy Independence through Solar, Wind, Biomass and…. From the entry cellular shade
  • At two kilometers long, its spinal-mounted main gun is likely capable of penetrating another dreadnought's kinetic barriers with a single shot.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Sovereign Codex entry. From the entry dreadnought
  • Tetzlaff played the wistful melodic phrases with arching lyricism and radiantly penetrating pianissimos, while in the orchestra Mr.2007 January 16, Anthony Tommasini, “Serious German Violinist Gets a Rock Star Ovation”, in The New York Times. From the entry timelessness
  • The odor is best described as strongly penetrating, irritating, fatty, overpowering, currylike, heavy, spicy, warm, and persistent, even after drying out.1999, Kenneth T. Farrell, Spices, Condiments and Seasonings, page 85. From the entry currylike
  • There are times when people prevent life's music from penetrating.1990, Victor Howard Carpenter, Stations of the spirit, →ISBN, page 182. From the entry unacoustic
  • Fog cottoned the steep, wooded slopes on each side of the lake, and the air was chill and penetrating.1937, Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association, The Improvement Era - Volume 40, page 186. From the entry cotton
  • German unsinkables with their penetrating shell and safety magazines?1930, Shane Leslie, Augustine Agar, Jutland: A Fragment of Epic, page x. From the entry unsinkable
  • A facety ghetto rude gyal grateful for your remarkable lack of judgeyness, an’ ready to be dazzled and inspired by your penetrating insight.2022, Tom Wright, “Scene Two: Classroom”, in I Ain’t Dumb (Modern Plays), London; New York, N.Y.; Dublin: Methuen Drama, →ISBN, page 12. From the entry problem child
  • Penetrating scans have revealed large numbers of hollow, unpowered objects with dimensions of 3.14 by 12.56 by 28.26 meters circulating in the equatorial cloud bands.2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2: Normandy Crash Site (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Anjea. From the entry xenoarcheological
  • Over the past four years, the rate of "interpersonal" attacks and "penetrating injuries" – such as stabbings, glassings, punchings, beatings – has doubled, he said.2009 January 25, Evonne Barry, “Booze and the trail of violence”, in Herald Sun, archived from the original on 12 Feb 2009. From the entry punching
  • The softnose technique involved placing an inhibitor on a blaster, which allowed a laser to travel at slower speeds, actually penetrating the target.[2002, Eoin Colfer, “Cruisin’ for Chix”, in Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Miramax Books…. From the entry softnose
  • The head touched her vulva and, the weight of her own body bearing her down, she felt it penetrating her lower mouth.2001, Roxane Beaufort, chapter 11, in Schooling Sylvia, Chimera Publishing, page 219. From the entry lower mouth
  • Old spars and water-soaked timbers cast on the beach are full of the workings of the shipworm—long cylindrical tunnels penetrating all parts of the wood.1955, Rachel Carson, “The Rim of Sand”, in The Edge of the Sea, New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company, →OCLC, page 185. From the entry shipworm
  • The authors' most penetrating work seems to me, their contribution along the lines of the interview with the child, the use of sketches, blottoes, etc.1932, Public Health Reviews, Ann Arbor, Mich.: Division of Hygiene and Public Health, University of Michigan, →OCLC. From the entry blotto
  • Across the darkling meadows, from the heights of Hare, the tintinnabulation sounded mournfully, penetrating the curl-wreathed tympanums of Lady Parvula de Panzoust.1919, Ronald Firbank, Valmouth (hardback), Duckworth, page 20. From the entry tintinnabulation
  • Ground penetrating radar can map the foundation of Gulem menhir and establish its identity either as a natural geological oddity, a natural inselberg or a manmade menhir.2016 December 4, “Archaeological Mystery of Gulem Menhir”, in The Navhind Times. From the entry inselberg
  • A 57-year-old male with a remote history of a two-stage fasciocutaneous urethroplasty presented with a new penetrating injury to his perineum after falling on a crowbar at work.2015 July 16, Dmitriy Nikolavsky, “Prelaminated Gracilis Flap with Buccal Mucosal Graft for Salvage of Devastated Urethra”, in Case…. From the entry fasciocutaneous
  • The major issue here is simply one of comparative size of the penetrating object (hand, wrist, forearm) to the size and distensibility of that which is being penetrated.1976 April 17, Dr. Reder, “To Your Health”, in Gay Community News, page 12. From the entry distensibility
  • The damage consists in general of more or less deep cuts or gougings on the flesh side of the hide, often penetrating through the hide to the grain side.1943, Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, volumes 41-42, page 230. From the entry gouging

Meaning of penetrating

  1. adjective Able to pierce or penetrate.
  2. adjective Looking deeply into; piercing.
  3. adjective Demonstrating acute or keen understanding.

Full definition of penetrating

Questions about penetrating in a sentence

How do you use penetrating in a sentence?
Penetrating is used as an adjective. For example: “The skunk produces a penetrating odor.”
What is a short sentence with penetrating?
“The skunk produces a penetrating odor.”
What does penetrating mean?
Penetrating means able to pierce or penetrate.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: penetrating (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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