How to Use John Doe in a Sentence

John Doe

noun
  • Your mind blurted out, Those could be me and John Doe’s kids.
    — Addie Citchens, New Yorker, 8 Mar. 2026
  • The man, who has not been identified, is listed in the suit as a John Doe.
    — Lillie Davidson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 June 2025
  • At the time, the minor was referred to as John Doe in court documents.
    — Carly Thomas, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 Mar. 2024
  • They are referred to as John Doe 1 and John Doe 2 in the suit.
    — Sarah N. Lynch, CBS News, 19 Mar. 2026
  • John Doe 2 was terminated a few days later.
    — Sarah N. Lynch, CBS News, 19 Mar. 2026
  • One of John Doe’s shoes was found near the scene of the crash, according to prosecutors.
    — Julia Marnin, Sacramento Bee, 17 May 2024
  • The officer offers up the name John Doe, to which McLeod agrees.
    — Michael Dorgan, FOXNews.com, 15 Aug. 2025
  • The third John Doe met Combs in 2006 and began working for him.
    — Mya Abraham, VIBE.com, 12 Dec. 2024
  • Loar was last seen in Bellflower wearing clothes similar to those found near John Doe, deputies said.
    — Daniella Segura, Sacramento Bee, 6 Feb. 2024
  • Officers showed him a photo of John Doe, along with those of several other men.
    — Dateline Nbc, NBC news, 18 June 2025
  • The John Doe becomes a sensation, as the whole city wants to offer him a job and prevent him from jumping.
    — Gwen Ihnat, EW.com, 16 Nov. 2023
  • The John Doe becomes a sensation, as the whole city wants to offer him a job and prevent him from jumping.
    — Gwen Ihnat, Entertainment Weekly, 12 Dec. 2025
  • On Monday, Atwood pleaded not guilty to the murder of a John Doe.
    — Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 19 June 2024
  • The clockwork scheme that John Doe sets in motion pays off in one of the greatest climaxes of any movie, ever.
    — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 7 Jan. 2025
  • The suit identifies the boys as only John Doe 1 and John Doe 2.
    — oregonlive, 8 Jan. 2014
  • To shield the identity of the now 30-year-old victim, he was referred to in the case as John Doe 2.
    — Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2023
  • For now, the sheriff’s office is referring to the remains as belonging to John Doe.
    — Greg Wehner, Fox News, 16 June 2024
  • Shawn Carter’s name was previously omitted from the lawsuit and was only named as a John Doe.
    — Marc Griffin, VIBE.com, 9 Dec. 2024
  • All the evidence from the blast has been destroyed, and his body, which was registered as a John Doe, has been removed from the morgue.
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 5 Nov. 2025
  • Maxwell, the documents claim, pointed the toward the person, who is referred to as John Doe.
    — Victoria Bekiempis, Vulture, 22 Aug. 2022
  • If, on the other hand, John Doe is innocent, there won’t be enough evidence against him to show the judge, and he’ll be released.
    — William W Bedsworth, Oc Register, 26 May 2025
  • Three plaintiffs are women and four are men, submitted as either Jane Doe or John Doe.
    — Elizabeth Wagmeister, CNN, 21 Oct. 2024
  • Since he couldn’t be identified, the victim became known as Lake County John Doe.
    — Maya Wilkins, Chicago Tribune, 7 Feb. 2025
  • Jane Doe is now 22 and the legal guardian of John Doe, now 15, according to the complaint.
    — Lisa Respers France, CNN, 2 Sep. 2022
  • The man, who filed his lawsuit as a John Doe in October, had his face concealed and his voice altered to maintain his anonymity.
    — Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 11 Dec. 2024
  • The minor in the case, who was previously identified as John Doe, is revealed to be Bell in the docuseries.
    — Kat Tenbarge, NBC News, 27 Mar. 2024
  • The complaint also describes an occasion where Phillips allegedly gave the boys beer and John Doe 4 passed out.
    — David Bixenspan, Rolling Stone, 23 Oct. 2024
  • Jason Statham’s Bourne style action pic John Doe is said to include a nice twist and is in the $80M range.
    — Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 12 May 2026
  • The man says he was employed by Combs for 14 years, and contends the two were meeting to discuss payments the John Doe said he was owed.
    — Charlotte Phillipp, People.com, 12 Dec. 2024
  • Doherty allegedly invited John Doe 8 along with other children to play on the parish’s playground at their leisure.
    — Lauren Costantino, Miami Herald, 2 Oct. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'John Doe.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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