How to Use duty-free in a Sentence

duty-free

adjective or adverb
  • Here, there are no duty-free shops, mega-cruise ships, or high-rise hotels.
    — Chris Dong, Travel + Leisure, 20 Dec. 2023
  • Part of that is because of duty-free shops’ pricing.
    — Eve Chen, USA Today, 8 Aug. 2025
  • The duty-free shipments do have some defenders.
    — Camila Domonoske, NPR, 23 Aug. 2025
  • Give your toddler a wooden spoon and an upside-down pot and relish the duty-free hour (with ear plugs).
    — Katrina Donham, Parents, 21 Jan. 2025
  • Plus, find duty-free spots, cosmetic stores, newsstands, and candy shops here.
    — Elizabeth Rhodes, Travel + Leisure, 16 Mar. 2023
  • So every trek to Brazil required a stop at the duty-free shop to buy our quota of cachaca.
    — Charlotte Observer, 30 Jan. 2024
  • As a result, many foreign parts could qualify a car for duty-free treatment.
    — Robert E. Lighthizer, Foreign Affairs, 27 Sep. 2023
  • This allows for duty-free shipments of all goods priced under $800.
    — Kenneth Rapoza, Forbes, 2 May 2023
  • Any package, from clothes to kitchenware, under that price point would come in duty-free and pass inspection faster.
    — Emily Feng, NPR, 2 May 2025
  • Beef is allowed to enter the country duty-free despite tariffs.
    — Claire Malon, Chicago Tribune, 17 Mar. 2026
  • Meanwhile, services such as child care and matchmaking remain duty-free.
    — The Conversation, 15 Jan. 2026
  • Meanwhile, services such as child care and matchmaking remain duty-free.
    — Dudley L. Poston, Fortune, 16 Jan. 2026
  • Forest City is a duty-free zone in Malaysia, just a few miles from Singapore.
    — Caroline Haskins, WIRED, 23 Sep. 2024
  • Shopping There are newsstands and duty-free shops on both sides of security.
    — Harriet Baskas, Travel + Leisure, 2 Feb. 2024
  • And someone abroad can send a gift of $100 or less to the United States duty-free.
    — Kayla Steinberg, NBC news, 29 Aug. 2025
  • Once a fan of rotating fragrances, a chance duty-free discovery led her to this new signature scent.
    — Anamaria Glavan, Allure, 22 Nov. 2024
  • Shippers can also re-export the goods to another country duty-free.
    — Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 6 May 2025
  • However, a duty-free shop at the entrance of the terminal expansion is open.
    — Christopher Muther, BostonGlobe.com, 18 Aug. 2023
  • China is opening more duty-free shops around the country in an effort to bolster spending within the country.
    — Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 9 July 2025
  • Plenty of travelers have been known to bring back a bottle of gin from a trip to London—or any duty-free shop, for that matter.
    — Forbes Staff, Forbes.com, 6 June 2025
  • Tax-free shopping in Europe doesn’t necessarily make the items duty-free back home.
    — Lane Nieset, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Mar. 2026
  • The programs offer duty-free access for thousands of imports from Africa and Haiti.
    — Kate Nishimura, Sourcing Journal, 12 Jan. 2026
  • China has moved to near-universal duty-free, quota-free access for African exports.
    — Daniele Nyirandutiye, semafor.com, 6 July 2026
  • This is also the reason behind a lack of duty-free shopping aboard Pride of America.
    — Lori A. May, Chron, 19 Mar. 2023
  • The trade show, which ends on Thursday, is the annual meeting place for the global duty-free industry.
    — Kevin Rozario, Forbes, 2 Oct. 2024
  • Hainan has the world’s largest duty-free shopping mall, and the government plans to turn the entire island into a duty-free hub as early as next year.
    — Serenitie Wang, Cnbc, CNBC, 11 Sep. 2024
  • But both platforms in September told Ars that losing the duty-free exemption wouldn't slow their growth.
    — Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica, 3 Feb. 2025
  • That means even smaller packages that used to slip in duty-free under the old $800 limit will now likely get hit with the tariff.
    — Mandy Taheri, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 Aug. 2025
  • While not every passenger is onboard to party, the cruise ferry features a show lounge, bars open late into the night and a sizable duty-free store.
    — David Nikel, Forbes.com, 6 Sep. 2025
  • While China’s duty-free stores work through the glut on their shelves, homegrown beauty brands are growing in popularity.
    — Elizabeth Paton, New York Times, 18 Sep. 2023

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