Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use role in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun

Role means a character or part played by a performer or actor. Example: “My neighbor was the lead role in last year's village play.”

Examples of role by meaning

nounA character or part played by a performer or actor.

  • My neighbor was the lead role in last year's village play.
  • Her dream was to get a role in a Hollywood movie, no matter how small.

nounThe expected behaviour of an individual in a society.

  • The role of women has changed significantly in the last century.

nounThe function or position of something.

  • Local volunteers played an important role in cleaning the beach after the oil spill.
  • What role does the wax in your earhole fulfill?
  • In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3

nounDesignation that denotes an associated set of responsibilities, knowledge, skills, or privileges.

  • The project manager role is responsible for ensuring that everyone on the team knows and executes his or her assigned tasks.
  • S. citizen's knowledge of World War II will probably decide his role in it.1939 November 10, “Following The War”, in The Chart, volume I, number 1, Joplin, Missouri: Joplin Junior College, page 4, column 1

More sentences with role

  • His face fit his roles: now smiling, now earnest, now glowering, now raging.From the entry now
  • The actor's pride was wounded when the leading role went to his rival.From the entry wound
  • The study focused on the role of plankton in the food chain.From the entry plankton
  • No part of the brain plays the role of permanent memory.From the entry play
  • He could perform by rote any of his roles in Shakespeare.From the entry rote
  • The way staff interact with each other during breaks can play an important role in the workplace.From the entry interact
  • The soldier was transitioned from a combat role to a strategic role.From the entry transition
  • The role of statins in prophylaxis for cardiovascular disease is well supported by the medical literature.From the entry prophylaxis
  • They all had to either accept a bump down to a lesser role or get fired.From the entry bump
  • Sterols are found in all animal and plant tissue and play an important role in hormone chemistry.From the entry sterol
  • Do you think he is cut out for the role of manager?From the entry cut out
  • The aging actress played the role she played in her youth, as if to reprise it.From the entry reprise
  • He scored a meaty role in the film, with plenty of action and dialogue.From the entry meaty
  • In the past, parenting was a more gendered activity with more distinct male and female roles.From the entry gendered
  • The essay attempts to play down the role slavery had in the Civil War.From the entry play down
  • Nonfighting members of the armed forces have important strategic and logistical roles.From the entry nonfighting
  • He's stepping back from the role to let you start in it.From the entry step back
  • The actress's role in the acclaimed drama finally put her on the map.From the entry put on the map
  • Spark arrestors play a critical role in the prevention of wildland fire and ignition of explosive atmospheres.From the entry spark arrestor
  • The policeman wore two hats, having an administrative role as well as patrolling the beat.From the entry wear two hats
  • The cast was a murderers' row, with five Oscar winners in supporting roles.From the entry murderers' row
  • With his dramatic mannerisms and gestures, the actor really made the role his own.From the entry make one's own
  • In multi-AI‑agent networks, the overagent maintains global awareness and assigns roles dynamically to optimize performance.From the entry overagent
  • Most of the movie was pretty weak, but she ate her role, and I couldn't take my eyes off her.From the entry eat
  • Nowadays, either women or countertenors take the castrato roles.From the entry castrato
  • I auditioned and I would have had the role, but I got squeezed out by a more experienced actor.From the entry squeeze out
  • Charlton Heston had a starring role in Ben-Hur.From the entry starring
  • Military aviation played a crucial role in the war.From the entry aviation
  • He took on an administrative role within the university.From the entry administrative
  • The role in the soap opera was the kiss of death for Ann's career as a theatrical actress.From the entry kiss of death
  • Women continue to play a preponderant role in caregiving.From the entry preponderant
  • She reflected on her country's role in history.From the entry reflect on

Meaning of role

  1. noun A character or part played by a performer or actor.
  2. noun The expected behaviour of an individual in a society.
  3. noun The function or position of something.

Full definition of role

Questions about role in a sentence

How do you use role in a sentence?
Role is used as a noun. For example: “My neighbor was the lead role in last year's village play.”
What is a short sentence with role?
“Charlton Heston had a starring role in Ben-Hur.”
What does role mean?
Role means a character or part played by a performer or actor.

Source and license

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