How to Use ajar in a Sentence

ajar

adjective or adverb
  • The door to the porch is still ajar.
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 16 Apr. 2026
  • The door to Their Room is ajar.
    — Hazlitt, 8 Oct. 2025
  • The front door to the brownstone had been left ajar.
    — Jennifer Wilson, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2025
  • Also, look to see if the lid or door is ajar or not closed all the way.
    — Washington Post, 14 Oct. 2021
  • Hollywood’s door is ajar; who in their right mind doesn’t walk through it?
    — Raven Smith, Vogue, 21 Dec. 2022
  • The bedroom window is ajar, but maybe the wormhole sucked her up?
    — Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 1 Aug. 2024
  • Keep in Mind There is no door alarm to warn you that one of the fridge's doors is ajar.
    — Barbara Bellesi Zito, Better Homes & Gardens, 28 June 2023
  • The window has been thrust ajar in Dove Valley.
    — Luca Evans, Denver Post, 6 Mar. 2026
  • Also, the officer found a wide-open garage door, as well as an ajar man door off the garage.
    — John Benson, cleveland.com, 18 Jan. 2018
  • Drop the heat to allow for a simmer, then cover, with the lid slightly ajar.
    — Danny Chau, The New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2022
  • Reduce the heat to low, and cover, leaving the lid just barely ajar.
    — ExpressNews.com, 9 Nov. 2020
  • That one misstep left the door a bit ajar, and Tsitsipas barged through.
    — Star Tribune, 9 Oct. 2020
  • The man can be seen through a slightly ajar wooden fence, more than a dozen feet from the officer.
    — Darcy Costello, The Courier-Journal, 31 Oct. 2017
  • But the door is left ajar after a finale phone call heading into season two.
    — Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 22 Mar. 2026
  • Indiana has kicked open a door so rarely ajar in the history of this program.
    — Zach Osterman, The Indianapolis Star, 5 Nov. 2020
  • The door is ajar for Republicans to make further gains with these two groups.
    — Gary Franks, Hartford Courant, 23 Nov. 2024
  • Some people keep their doors closed all the time, but others leave them ajar to invite visitors.
    — Michelle Theriault Boots, Anchorage Daily News, 2 Sep. 2021
  • Although on some models there is a door latch switch, that basically tells the car is a door is ajar.
    — John Paul Senior Manager Public Affairs and Traffic Safety Aaa Northeast, Hartford Courant, 1 Jan. 2026
  • Even as to prior restraints, the Supreme Court left the door slightly ajar.
    — New York Times, 9 June 2021
  • Then Miguel Gutierrez spotted the front door ajar and his fears were reignited.
    — Zeke MacCormack, San Antonio Express-News, 26 Mar. 2018
  • February asks you to open your social channels back up; reach out to an old friend and keep the doors to your heart ajar.
    — Meghan Rose, Glamour, 1 Apr. 2021
  • The container’s back doors were ajar, and boxes had spilled out onto the sidewalk.
    — Malia Wollan, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2024
  • The officer turned around and Bouey was made to strip completely naked with the door still ajar.
    — Kate Morrissey, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Apr. 2022
  • The front door is ajar, and a cat marches in, pausing for a moment in surprise, her front right paw held in mid-air.
    — Lizz Schumer, People.com, 19 Aug. 2025
  • The bear cub broke into the home through a back door that had been left ajar and moved to the kitchen where the suspect’s dog was resting.
    — Hannah Poukish, Sacramento Bee, 28 June 2024
  • But also, the door is definitely slightly ajar, for sure, for more.
    — Allison Degrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 14 Nov. 2025
  • The bedroom door was slightly ajar, and loud music was playing on a radio in the living room.
    — Peter Hermann, Washington Post, 27 Feb. 2018
  • The previous day, a door was ajar and heaps of trash and children’s toys were visible inside.
    — Julie Carr Smyth, Los Angeles Times, 2 July 2026
  • When the worried mom got home from a Genesis meeting, her door was ajar and a window open.
    — The Salt Lake Tribune, 10 May 2021
  • Renzi, trying to revive his own career and clout, even left the door ajar to some kind of compromise.
    — Washington Post, 13 Jan. 2021

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