How to use quintessential in a sentence

32 example sentences · adjective, noun

Quintessential means of the nature of a quintessence (in all senses); being or relating to the ultimate essence of something. Example: “My father was the quintessential self-made man.”

Examples of quintessential by meaning

adjectiveOf the nature of a quintessence (in all senses); being or relating to the ultimate essence of something.

Often heralded as the quintessential RPG, and rarely rivaled by any other, this game is becoming increasingly difficult to find due to the fact that so many RPG fans are buying them at every chance they get.2002, Andy Slaven, Video Game Bible, 1985-2002, page 145
Over millions of years, the grim struggle to survive larger predators, virulent disease, and resource scarcity on their homeworld, Tuchanka, turned the lizards into quintessential survivors.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Krogan: Biology Codex entry
Twin Tracks is the old-fashioned autobiography of a quintessential Englishman, evocative of an age when you took halibut oil for rickets and sportsmen were amateurs who trained in their lunch breaks.2014 May 6, Nicholas Shakespeare, “Twin Tracks by Roger Bannister, review: Roger Bannister's memoir of a life in athletics recalls the...

nounThe fundamental essence of something.

A final aspect of the focus argument concerns the potential for integration to highlight the quintessentials of each subject.2013, Léonie J. Rennie, Grady Venville, John Wallace, Knowledge that Counts in a Global Community, page 64

More sentences with quintessential

My father was the quintessential self-made man.From the entry self-made
In our ragbag of stereotypes, ostriches have thus become the quintessential dim-witted animals.2020 August 4, Richard Conniff, “They may look goofy, but ostriches are nobody's fool”, in National Geographic, Washington, D.C.: National…. From the entry ragbag
The quintessential Toronto treat is a peameal bacon sammy (try one at the St.2017, Jody Robbins, 25 Places in Canada Every Family Should Visit, [Victoria, B.C.]: TouchWood Editions, →ISBN, page 128. From the entry sammy
The quintessential Dutch treat is a stroopwafel—syrup sandwiched between two crispy, thin waffles.2015, Rick Steves, Gene Openshaw, Rick Steves Amsterdam & the Netherlands, Berkeley, Calif.: Avalon Travel, →ISBN. From the entry stroopwafel
In quintessential roles, Bogart and Bergman are former lovers reunited in wartorn Casablanca.2014, David Bleiler, TLA Video & DVD Guide 2004: The Discerning Film Lover's Guide, St. Martin's Griffin, →ISBN. From the entry bogey
You are the quintessential Chelmsman, Art -- indeed, you are the prince of the Sages of Chelm.2010 January 27, "nordicskiv2" <David.L.Webb@Dartmouth.edu>, "Re: HELMsman", message-ID…. From the entry Chelm
This is the quintessential novel of Oxford gilded youth flying too close to the sun.2010 September 24, Val McDermid, “Val McDermid's top 10 Oxford novels”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 14 Mar 2021. From the entry fly too close to the sun
Many Singaporeans have come to accept this mythical creature as a quintessential symbol of Singapore.2002, Can-Seng Ooi, Cultural Tourism and Tourism Cultures: The Business of Mediating Experiences in Copenhagen and Singapore, Copenhagen…. From the entry merlion
Roosevelt was the quintessential American "supercrip," to use a term coined by disability activists.2001, Ellen L. Barton, “Textual Practices of Erasure: Representations of Disability and the Founding of the United Way”, in Cynthia…. From the entry supercrip
Cosmopolitan, bustling, exotic, mysterious, Shanghai was a cultural crossroads and the quintessential liberty town for sailors.1996, James R. Schultz, “Paris Of The East”, in The Long Way Home: A Pacific Odyssey of World War II, Creative Arts Book Company, →ISBN…. From the entry Paris of the East
Now among Jews the quintessential feature of Jewish princessness is material self-indulgence.1986, Association for the Study of Jewish Languages, Jewish Language Review, volume 6, page 278. From the entry princessness
One of the quintessential values of the indigenous Ewe society is pacificity.1976, Conflict and harmony in education in tropical Africa, page 85. From the entry pacificity
This peculiar snack was inspired by the quintessential (okay, maybe only to a few people) Southern treat "Koolickles," or Kool-Aid pickles.2018 July 16, Isami McCowan, “You Can Get Fruit-Flavored Pickles In Snack Packs On Amazon For The Ultimate Summer Treat”, in Bustle…. From the entry Koolickle
They also enjoyed that quintessential Victwardian (to coin a phrase) holiday treat: riding donkeys over the sands of Tynemouth.2014 June, William Gaul, “The Atkinsons At Home”, in Joburg Heritage Journal, volume 1, archived from the original on 18 Aug 2013. From the entry Victwardian
The quintessential phase transition in science, and paradigm shift, is that of the theory of evolution by natural selection.2012, Samuel Arbesman, The Half-Life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date, Penguin, →ISBN. From the entry Planck's principle
And disappearing, needless to say, is a quintessential Austerian act.2011, Dennis Barone, Beyond the Red Notebook: Essays on Paul Auster, page 184. From the entry austerian
In the end, Nevada remained the quintessential purple state.2010, Hal K. Rothman, The Making of Modern Nevada, University of Nevada Press, →ISBN, page 162. From the entry purple
I'm probably exaggerating, but Leo gals are positioned to be the quintessential pillow queens who expect to be serviced first.2010 July 13, Charlene Lichtenstein, HerScopes: A Guide to Astrology for Lesbians, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN. From the entry pillow queen
An outgoing, story-telling Irishman from Butte, Montana, with his thatch of red hair and sandpapered face, Matt was the quintessential imp.2008, Wallace Madding, The Country Club Killings: A Montana Story, page 21. From the entry thatch
The city’s quintessential urbanness could be its silver lining.2008 June 18, Anemona Hartocollis, “Workshop on Preparing for Calamities Focuses on the Flu”, in New York Times. From the entry urbanness
"Do I or do I not have the quintessential in-laws?2006, Richard Matturro, Luna, Livingtson Press, →ISBN, page 92. From the entry out of central casting
Later that summer Lofthouse and Greenwood teamed up with Heinz Kahl to climb the quintessential Yamnuska classic — Red Shirt.2003, Ben Gadd, Chic Scott, Dave Dornian, The Yam: 50 Years of Climbing on Yamnuska, →ISBN, page 42. From the entry red shirt
The languor of Youth—how unique and quintessential it is!1945, Evelyn Waugh, chapter 4, in Brideshead Revisited […], London: Chapman & Hall, published 1952, →OCLC, book 1 (Et in Arcadia Ego)…. From the entry languor
Within a minute, Hougang uncle moves from denial, anger, and bargaining to “ok lor I’ll just remove them”—a quintessential Singaporean pattern of resignation.2023 January 3, Hykel Quek, quoting Marcus, “3 Ways To Respond to Authority, According to a Fierce (but Resigned) Hougang Uncle”, in…. From the entry lor
Other good seaside options include Hellshire Beach – a quintessential Kingstonian seaside experience – and Bull Bay, with its small surfing community.2017, Paul Clammer, Anna Kaminski, Lonely Planet Jamaica, →ISBN. From the entry Kingstonian
These waves of sand roll for 50km along the Morocco–Algeria frontier in a Star Wars–esque landscape justifiably touted as the quintessential Sahara experience.2015, Lonely Planet’s Ultimate Travel: Our List of the 500 Best Places to See… Ranked, Lonely Planet Publications, →ISBN. From the entry Star Wars–esque
Fascism, fully revealed, is the extreme, exquisite expression of masculism, of patriarchy, and thus the natural enemy of feminism, its quintessential opposite.1983, Sheila Ruth, quoted in Judith Evans (1986), Feminism and Political Theory http://books.google.com/books?id=094_AAAAMAAJ, page 70. From the entry masculism
While his career spanned a time when quintessential New York street photography was defined as swift, sharp and precise, Leiter’s leisured, impressionist style went against the grain.2016 January 26, Brennavan Sritharan, “Ordinary Beauty: Revisiting Saul Leiter’s pioneering images”, in British Journal of Photography. From the entry leisured

Meaning of quintessential

adjective Of the nature of a quintessence (in all senses); being or relating to the ultimate essence of something.
noun The fundamental essence of something.

Full definition of quintessential

Questions about quintessential in a sentence

How do you use quintessential in a sentence?: Quintessential is used as an adjective and noun. For example: “My father was the quintessential self-made man.”
What is a short sentence with quintessential?: “My father was the quintessential self-made man.”
What does quintessential mean?: Quintessential means of the nature of a quintessence (in all senses); being or relating to the ultimate essence of something.

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