How to Use Pavlovian in a Sentence

Pavlovian

adjective
  • The concept became so ingrained at Villanova that the word became near Pavlovian.
    — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 15 June 2026
  • Not only does Pavlovian enter with the most starts (10), its owner and trainer have twice won the Derby together.
    — Andrew Greif, NBC news, 2 May 2026
  • Publications from the Times on down employ clickbait headlines that treat you like a starving rat in a Pavlovian experiment.
    — Alex Ross, New Yorker, 15 June 2026
  • These sights have come to inspire a Pavlovian response from generations of children, and — no less powerfully — a Proustian one from their parents.
    — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 1 May 2026
  • Trainer Doug O’Neill has three contenders in Saul Elliott, Thirsty Rebel and Pavlovian.
    — Kevin Modesti, Oc Register, 4 Sep. 2025
  • Why this is so is based on a number of factors, including official priorities, trade-offs, and what many suspect is Pavlovian manipulation.
    — New Atlas, 16 Dec. 2025
  • Someone suggests aguachile, a word that makes Top Chef fans everywhere — or maybe just me — shudder in Pavlovian irritation given its ubiquity in this competition.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 3 Mar. 2026
  • Pavlovian, is a 30-1 long shot on the morning-line odds, and Baffert’s starters are 20-1 (Potente) and 30-1 (Litmus Test).
    — Jay Posner, Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2026
  • The chestnut colt won the Louisiana Derby in March with fellow Derby contenders Pavlovian and Golden Tempo in second and third, respectively.
    — Alex Sundby, CBS News, 1 May 2026
  • O’Neill, who also has Pavlovian as a starter, named Cristian Torres to ride Robusta because Emisael Jaramillo had commitments at Santa Anita.
    — Jay Posner, Los Angeles Times, 2 May 2026
  • Earlier, Hernandez rode Desert Gate to an 8¾-length victory over Pavlovian in the Best Pal – giving Baffert a 12th win and fourth in a row — in the six-furlong sprint for 2-year-old males.
    — Bill Center, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Aug. 2025
  • For pretty much every gamer alive today, those first few notes induce an almost Pavlovian response — sparking an urge to grab a controller on your lap that isn’t actually there and bringing to mind comfortable, warm memories of stomping Goombas and riding Yoshi on a quest to save Princess Peach.
    — Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 3 Apr. 2026
  • O’Neill, who won the Derby in 2012 and 2016, also will start Pavlovian, who won the Sunland Park Derby and was second in the Louisiana Derby.
    — Jay Posner, Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2026
  • Meanwhile, Emerging Market won his February debut at Tampa Bay Downs by 1 3/4 lengths before beating Pavlovian by a head in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby on March 21.
    — ABC News, 1 May 2026
  • So Happy, Emerging Market, favored Further Ado (5-1), Potente, Six Speed, Robusta, Albus, Intrepido, Litmus Test and Pavlovian.
    — Jay Posner, Los Angeles Times, 2 May 2026
  • So Happy has the best morning-line odds (15-1) of the five horses coming from Southern California, followed by Potente (20-1), Litmus Test (30-1), Doug O’Neill’s Pavlovian and Jeff Mullins’ Intrepido (50-1).
    — Jay Posner, Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Pavlovian.' 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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