How to Use gridlocked in a Sentence

gridlocked

adjective
  • Any new rules would have to make it through a gridlocked Congress.
    — Compiled Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, Arkansas Online, 27 Oct. 2021
  • Relatives tried to reach her, but were blocked by gridlocked streets and a wall of fire.
    — Jack Healy, BostonGlobe.com, 19 Aug. 2023
  • Even in a gridlocked Washington, that sort of effort can still be the art of the deal.
    — New York Times, 29 July 2021
  • So, having two locations of any store can help save time for gridlocked shoppers.
    — Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, 13 Feb. 2026
  • As thick smoke and orange sparks filled the air, roads out of Paradise became gridlocked.
    — Jenny Jarvie, Los Angeles Times, 25 Feb. 2025
  • But a new study suggests gridlocked commutes are driving burnout in the suburbs, too.
    — Tanasia Kenney, Charlotte Observer, 14 May 2026
  • Locals lamented a shortage of gas, gridlocked roads, few hotels to shelter in and no flights out of the area.
    — Rob Wile, NBC News, 8 Oct. 2024
  • Traffic remained gridlocked for more than three hours as emergency services worked at the scene.
    — Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 27 Jan. 2026
  • On a gridlocked highway about a mile off the island, someone fired a gun into a car and injured one person.
    — Russ Bynum, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Apr. 2024
  • While the Tigers remained gridlocked, the Padres continued to hit.
    — Jenna Malinowski, Detroit Free Press, 23 July 2023
  • The business owner added that as the day winds down, streets can become gridlocked with johns in cars looking to hire a prostitute.
    — Emma Colton, Fox News, 9 Feb. 2024
  • For years, gridlocked streets posed a serious safety risk to children and families.
    — Midori Valdivia, New York Daily News, 22 Feb. 2025
  • So the switch to sitting behind the wheel in gridlocked traffic might not always feel like an upgrade every morning.
    — Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2022
  • The company aims to build a network of high-speed tunnels near some of America’s most gridlocked cities.
    — Faiz Siddiqui, Washington Post, 2 Feb. 2024
  • As rumors about the free food giveaway spread, roads were gridlocked and law enforcement responded, Morales said.
    — Michelle Watson, CNN, 5 Feb. 2023
  • Many residents trying to evacuate were met with gas shortages, gridlocked roads, few hotels to shelter in and no flights out of the area.
    — Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 9 Oct. 2024
  • Even with his legislative agenda stalled in a gridlocked Congress, Biden has options.
    — Matthew Miles Goodrich, The New Republic, 6 Mar. 2023
  • The city’s perpetually jammed traffic was even more gridlocked than usual as people raced home from work or to the airport to try to catch a flight.
    — Anchorage Daily News, 28 Aug. 2021
  • A couple of months ago, who would have thought a gridlocked Congress would produce a gusher of legislation?
    — Amy Hubbard, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2022
  • The family also walks everywhere instead of wrestling with car seats or bracing for gridlocked traffic.
    — Daniella Gray, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Nov. 2025
  • Traffic also became gridlocked as crowds grew, according to police.
    — Kelli Arseneau, jsonline.com, 27 Oct. 2025
  • One student from Broward, for example, usually arrives stressed and overwhelmed from the long and gridlocked drive to school.
    — Miami Herald, 15 Nov. 2025
  • Life in the gridlocked Senate would be dull by contrast, although that did not stop him from teasing the possibility for months.
    — Jess Bidgood, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Feb. 2023
  • While research shows that spending time outside is good for physical and mental health, long lines and gridlocked roads can make the experience a lot less fun.
    — Emily Wakild, The Conversation, 20 June 2023
  • And that could prove tricky for a president who is presumably seeking reelection with a gridlocked Congress.
    — John Fritze, USA TODAY, 26 Feb. 2023
  • Both narrator and listener have died and are now in purgatory, stuck in gridlocked traffic in a tunnel, at the end of which a bright light beckons.
    — Literary Hub, 14 Jan. 2026
  • While great powers remain gridlocked, middle powers can advance reformist agendas.
    — Ekrem Imamoglu, Foreign Affairs, 11 Dec. 2025
  • But even if narrow majorities continue to reign over the House, that doesn’t mean Congress has to remain gridlocked.
    — Leah Askarinam, ABC News, 25 Oct. 2023
  • Outside, the day’s first light paled into a gray glare glinting off gridlocked cars waiting to pass through fortified checkpoints into the capital.
    — ProPublica, 15 Dec. 2022
  • Pacific Coast Highway had yet to become gridlocked with people fleeing the fast-moving flames.
    — Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times, 29 June 2025

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