Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use privilege in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb

Privilege means an exemption from certain laws granted by the Pope. Example: “All first-year professors here must teach four courses a term, yet you're only teaching one! What entitled you to such a privilege?”

Examples of privilege by meaning

nounA particular benefit, advantage, or favor; a right or immunity enjoyed by some but not others; a prerogative...

  • All first-year professors here must teach four courses a term, yet you're only teaching one! What entitled you to such a privilege?
  • Special privileges should be reserved for family and village life, while steps should be taken to prevent families and family ownings from being broken up by inheritance.2001, Paul H. Kratoska, South East Asia, Colonial History, page 323

nounAn especially rare or fortunate opportunity; the good fortune (to do something).

  • I had the privilege to sit near him in the House for a small part of his Commons service and there was an additional device provided to aid his participation in debates.2012, The Observer, letter, 29 April

nounThe fact of being privileged; the status or existence of (now especially social or economic) benefit or advantage...

  • People who at any other time would cling like glue to their miserable scraps of privilege, will surrender them fast enough when their country is in danger.1941, George Orwell, The Lion and the Unicorn, Pt. III
  • There is no complexity expressed in the feverish discussions of white privilege that periodically grips South Africa's chattering class.2013 October 21, Azad Essa, “South Africa's 'miracle transition' has not put an end to white privilege”, in The Guardian, Guardian Media...
  • South Africa's 'miracle transition' has not put an end to white privilege.2013, The Guardian, 21 Oct, (headline)

nounA right or immunity enjoyed by a legislative body or its members.

  • Dr Grigori Loutchansky is – according to a congressman speaking under congressional privilege – a "purported Russian mob figure".2001, The Guardian, leader, 1 May

nounA common law doctrine that protects certain communications from being used as evidence in court.

  • Your honor, my client is not required to answer that; her response is protected by attorney-client privilege.

verbTo grant some particular right or exemption to; to invest with a peculiar right or immunity; to authorize.

  • to privilege representatives from arrest

verbTo prioritize.

  • “Rolling Stone” is spacious and ethereal but not directionless — it is R&B that privileges mood over structure, soft daubs of feeling over authoritative belting.2022 July 20, Jon Caramanica, “R&B That Sweats, Emotionally and Physically”, in The New York Times

More sentences with privilege

  • The principle of least privilege holds that a process should only receive the permissions it needs.From the entry principle
  • We are unwilling to restore his previous privileges after his betrayal of our trust.From the entry unwilling
  • They promoted him to supervisor, with all the attendant responsibilities and privileges.From the entry attendant
  • Since you didn't do your chores, you can kiss your video game privileges goodbye.From the entry kiss goodbye
  • The right to hold a weekly market was an invaluable privilege not given to all towns in the Middle Ages.From the entry market
  • I'd account it a privilege to serve you.From the entry account
  • A bishop is entitled to certain episcopalian privileges.From the entry episcopalian
  • Feudal privileges often included tax and other immunities.From the entry immunity
  • For quotations using this term, see Citations:white privilege.From the entry white privilege
  • “I’d like to say it’s not just bounteous privilege, but it is.2023 March 5, Miranda Sawyer, quoting Jason Williamson, “Sleaford Mods: ‘The UK is like a crazy golf course – all we’ve got left are…. From the entry bounteous
  • To see the birth of a new star, Nathan surely knew, was a rare privilege.2020, Gene Brown, Seven Candlesticks to Kingdom Come. From the entry starwatcher
  • I duly laid on Adam the privilege and obligations of a conspecific.2019, Ian McEwan, Machines Like Me, Jonathan Cape, page 84. From the entry conspecific
  • It is my honor and privilege to have this special opportunity to serve the community of Jianshih.2010s, GUO DAI ZENG, “About the Mayor”, in Shinchu County Jianshih Township Office, archived from the original on 19 Dec 2019. From the entry Jianshih
  • Requestmen might ask for promotion, for special leave or some other privilege.2017, Brian Lavery, Churchill's Navy: The Ships, People and Organisation, 1939-1945. From the entry requestman
  • They are not, but it becomes a problem when white pride becomes white privilege or white supremacy.2016, Darrell Smith, Black Reality. From the entry prowhite
  • He had had the privilege of being gozzed on by Johnny Rotten.2013, Nick Oldham, Bad Tidings, Severn House Publishers, →ISBN, page 164. From the entry gozz
  • This linguistic imbalance denies the woman certain privileges, a bias phenomenon that is recurrent in language.2012 Oscar C. Labang, "Binaric structures and female erasure in Ezra Lim’s 'Woman'", Epiphany: Journal of Transdisciplinary Studies Vol.…. From the entry linguistic imbalance
  • What do we expect then—to be left un-harassed, we who have all the privileges?2010, Nuala O'Faolain, “An Ugly Little War”, in A More Complex Truth. From the entry materialism
  • The customer return privilege period expires and the remaining holdback is paid to the transferor.2010, Barry J. Epstein, Ralph Nach, Steven M. Bragg, Wiley GAAP: Interpretation and Application of Generally Accepted Accounting…. From the entry holdback
  • The other day I traded on racial privilege in the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station.2008 July 1, Mary Louise Frampton, Ian Haney Lopez, Jonathan Simon, After the War on Crime: Race, Democracy, and a New Reconstruction, NYU…. From the entry policify
  • An additional First Amendment defense available to bulletin board posters is that of the opinion privilege.2007, Brett J. Trout, Cyber Law: A Legal Arsenal for Online Business, page 77. From the entry opinion privilege
  • Men, on the other hand, knowing their privileges safe in well-trained hands, can afford a tolerant attitude.2006, Lucy Delap, Maria DiCenzo, Leila Ryan, Feminism and the Periodical Press, 1900-1918. From the entry keep a dog and bark oneself
  • The province's identity was fixed on traditionalist and historical attachment to particularist privilege.2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 272. From the entry particularist
  • Melanie, propped and bed-jacketed, wore her white-rabbit mask, rosy eyes and nose, like a badge of privilege.2002, Caroline Slate, The House on Sprucewood Lane, Pocket Books, →ISBN, page 241. From the entry bed-jacketed
  • Comparable issues arose - about privileging the observer's perspective and about ethnocentrizing.1999, Linda Briskin, Women's Organizing and Public Policy in Canada and Sweden. From the entry ethnocentrize
  • The rare privilege of being pampered will delight you, but don’t count your chickens before they’ve hatched.1996, Leslee Becker, “Correspondence”, in The Sincere Cafe: Stories, Minneapolis, Minn.: Mid-List Press, →ISBN, page 121. From the entry don't count your chickens before they've hatched
  • If he will have her and pay well for the privilege, your daughter will be a wife.”1994, Karen Cushman, Catherine, Called Birdy, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 5. From the entry sweet Judas
  • Occasionally, I've thought about the positive side of being involved with someone with your privileges.1990 February 4, Vanessa Nemeth, Stephanie Poggi, “Bumps And All”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 29, page 12. From the entry pump
  • Privilege is a smokescreen, the carrot on the stick to the donkey.1981 December 5, David L. Cawley, “Those Were The Days”, in Gay Community News, volume 9, number 20, page 14. From the entry gameplaying
  • To be loused up by Humbolt was really a kind of privilege.1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 3. From the entry louse up

Meaning of privilege

  1. noun An exemption from certain laws granted by the Pope.
  2. noun A particular benefit, advantage, or favor; a right or immunity enjoyed by some but not others; a prerogative, preferential treatment.
  3. noun An especially rare or fortunate opportunity; the good fortune (to do something).

Full definition of privilege

Questions about privilege in a sentence

How do you use privilege in a sentence?
Privilege is used as a noun and verb. For example: “All first-year professors here must teach four courses a term, yet you're only teaching one! What entitled you to such a privilege?”
What is a short sentence with privilege?
“to privilege representatives from arrest”
What does privilege mean?
Privilege means an exemption from certain laws granted by the Pope.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: privilege (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:

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