How to Use four-letter in a Sentence

four-letter

adjective
  • Where did the four-word, four-letter line come from?
    — David Weigel, semafor.com, 25 Mar. 2026
  • Is that your favorite four-letter word?
    — Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times, 17 June 2026
  • Here are some of our favorite four-letter baby names for girls.
    — Sherri Gordon, Clc, Parents, 9 Oct. 2024
  • Mold is an ugly four-letter word that is found too often in bathrooms.
    — Megan Boettcher, Better Homes & Gardens, 8 Sep. 2023
  • The answer to this week’s crossword contest is a four-letter part of the body.
    — WSJ, 5 Oct. 2023
  • The answer to this week’s contest crossword is a four-letter word.
    — WSJ, 23 June 2023
  • The answer to this week’s contest crossword is a four-letter word.
    — WSJ, 2 June 2023
  • The answer to this week’s contest crossword is a four-letter plural noun.
    — wsj.com, 12 May 2023
  • For the past two decades, debt has been a four-letter word at Old Trafford in more ways than one.
    — Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 13 June 2026
  • Sprinkled about this sentiment are an array of four-letter words.
    — Mac Engel june 12, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12 June 2026
  • The intruders must crack a four-letter code to unlock their padlocks and enter the course.
    — Nick Caruso, TVLine, 28 June 2024
  • What's a four-letter action that a fighter might perform, or a three-letter wizard move?
    — Kevin Purdy, Ars Technica, 11 May 2024
  • And Democrats’ use of four-letter vernacular says a lot about the party.
    — Alexis Simendinger, The Hill, 28 Apr. 2025
  • One four-letter word can mean life or death for some of Florida’s most treasured creatures.
    — Elise Bennett, The Orlando Sentinel, 15 May 2025
  • Panther fans everywhere shook their heads for this game’s four-plus hours and probably threw in a few four-letter words, too.
    — Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 8 Sep. 2025
  • There are plenty of four-letter words that apply to what’s happened when the Lakers have tried to put points on the board.
    — Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2025
  • So now, on a collection of videos, over the top of Bob’s booming baritone is a series of four-letter words.
    — Zack Meisel, New York Times, 16 May 2026
  • So much so that a cheeky George Clooney let loose a certain four-letter word while jesting about a fellow actor.
    — Kimi Robinson, USA Today, 10 Jan. 2026
  • In just under four minutes, smooth crooner drops the king of all four-letter words no less than 21 times during the crass breakup ballad.
    — Robbie Daw, Billboard, 14 Apr. 2023
  • Shocking four-letter words emerged effortlessly through scarlet lips, in a voice deeper than my father’s.
    — Victor Lodato, The New Yorker, 29 July 2024
  • There’s something really endearing about a short, four-letter baby name.
    — Sherri Gordon, Clc, Parents, 9 Oct. 2024
  • The four-letter name is written in bold upper-case letters and covers the majority of his knuckles.
    — Michelle Lee, PEOPLE, 1 Oct. 2025
  • Ford, who is thirty-six, barrel-chested, and bearded, with a propensity for four-letter words, said, laughing.
    — Hannah Goldfield, New Yorker, 8 Dec. 2025
  • His team down by 18 after two quarters, Popovich’s halftime speech went heavy on the four-letter epithets.
    — Jeff McDonald, San Antonio Express-News, 20 Mar. 2023
  • Several four-letter c-words are used liberally.
    — Katherine Turman, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2026
  • The get down to the get down to the get down on it — from DT to JT to the four-letter hip name to come before the gang.
    — Rolling Stone, 19 Oct. 2024
  • More and more of our fellow citizens are allowing four-letter words to become part of their vocabulary.
    — Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 7 Mar. 2024
  • Enforcement is a four-letter word to progressives, and a crucial part of keeping businesses in business.
    — Boston Herald Editorial Staff, Boston Herald, 23 Dec. 2025
  • Prescott’s reaction—a four-letter word that rhymes with Andrew Luck—certainly seemed genuine.
    — Justin Birnbaum, Forbes, 25 Dec. 2024
  • Schools can never succeed academically until discipline is no longer treated as a four-letter word.
    — Vincent Turley, Hartford Courant, 2 Mar. 2025

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