How to Use cross-purpose in a Sentence
cross-purpose
noun-
The two have been at cross-purposes for years, ignoring their hearts for a litany of reasons.
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EW.com,
28 Aug. 2025
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The members of their tribe were running around the beach at cross-purposes, trying to set up camp—to set up a society.
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Julie Beck,
The Atlantic,
12 May 2026
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Two tentacles of the same creature, working at cross-purposes.
—
Adam Verner
september 3,
Literary Hub,
3 Sep. 2025
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The Georgia raid is yet another example of this administration working at cross-purposes.
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Patricia Lopez,
Mercury News,
26 Sep. 2025
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While Washington and Jerusalem work at cross-purposes, Tehran’s strategy for survival is becoming clearer.
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Thomas Wright,
The Atlantic,
6 Mar. 2026
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This means two-thirds of your implementation capacity is either idle or working at cross-purposes during critical strategic transitions.
—
Aurelien Mangano,
Forbes.com,
5 Aug. 2025
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Fragmented mental models mean teams interpret current reality differently and then act at cross-purposes.
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Thomas Lim,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
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Conflicting Agent Behavior Agents with competing objectives can work at cross-purposes.
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Mohit Bhat,
Forbes.com,
19 Feb. 2026
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The demise of the West as a reliable geopolitical unit will increasingly see the United States and its former partners acting at cross-purposes and finding themselves on the opposite sides of debates.
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Stewart Patrick,
Foreign Affairs,
18 Sep. 2025
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Teams run at cross-purposes because priorities are unclearly or inconsistently communicated.
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Debon Lewis,
Forbes.com,
12 Mar. 2026
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cross-purpose.' 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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