How to Use lexicographer in a Sentence

lexicographer

noun
  • But then, part of the thrill of being a lexicographer is knowing that the work will never be done.
    — Ben Huberman, Longreads, 3 Mar. 2018
  • That is the task of the lexicographer, the human who watches words spread and tracks the way people use them.
    — Katy Steinmetz, Time, 27 Sep. 2017
  • One of the jobs of a lexicographer is to proofread dictionary entries.
    — Kory Stamper, Longreads, 19 Mar. 2026
  • Kory Stamper, a lexicographer here, is very much part of the vanguard of word-nerd celebrities.
    — Jennifer Schuessler, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2017
  • Surprising histories lurk in the bellies of sharks and the lives of lexicographers.
    — Julian Lucas, Harper's magazine, 25 Nov. 2019
  • Yet it has been well served by lexicographers writing entertainingly about their work.
    — The Economist, 19 Oct. 2017
  • Few lexicographers are lucky enough, then, to have both endlessly pleasurable work and the talent to write amusingly about it.
    — The Economist, 19 Oct. 2017
  • Within a month, IXL laid off all of the dictionary’s full-time lexicographers and dumped most of its freelancers.
    — Stefan Fatsis, The Atlantic, 13 Sep. 2025
  • Tracing the patterns of these influences is the job of the historical lexicographer.
    — Jesse Sheidlower, The New Yorker, 23 Mar. 2017
  • But then a grammarian or a lexicographer decided that both spellings should be preserved, and that the main meanings should be divided between them.
    — David Owen, The New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2023
  • Some are purely wicked but others—an artist, a travel writer, a lexicographer—are there for more conflictedly voyeuristic purposes.
    — Sam Sacks, WSJ, 1 Oct. 2021
  • Anyway, in numerous cases in this volume, being aware of dictionaries in other languages has left a mark on lexicographers.
    — Literary Hub, 29 Sep. 2025
  • Once its lexicographers establish a shortlist for Word of the Year, Oxford opens voting on its website.
    — Melina Khan, USA Today, 1 Dec. 2025
  • Miss Manners would be sorry to think that retirement had left you oblivious to the dynamics of life, which, indeed, lexicographers must follow.
    — Judith Martin, Sun Sentinel, 3 Feb. 2026
  • Today, Americanisms are easy for modern lexicographers to find because of the internet and access to large data sets.
    — Sarah Ogilvie, WSJ, 11 Nov. 2023
  • When that day came, every lexicographer on staff would have to drop everything and swan dive gracefully into the complexities of the Big Book.
    — Kory Stamper, Longreads, 19 Mar. 2026
  • Many knowledgeable critics thought Worcester innocent of the charges — and the better lexicographer.
    — Bryan A. Garner, National Review, 17 Mar. 2022
  • Following a few more years of work, the lexicographer—a studier or compiler of dictionaries—transferred his entire project online for anyone to peruse.
    — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 19 Feb. 2026
  • But this abundance of Internet speak and signals can be hard to keep up with, as new meanings spread across the web at a speed that was unimaginable when lexicographers relied on filing cabinets.
    — Katy Steinmetz, Time, 6 Mar. 2018
  • Samuel Johnson used similar language—harmless drudge—to describe the lexicographer who compiles a dictionary.
    — Alexandra Horowitz, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 2022
  • Some linguists and lexicographers agree that African American language and culture deserves its own dictionary.
    — Meron Moges-Gerbi, CNN, 11 June 2023
  • The job entailed his becoming an etymologist, lexicographer and field worker generally among the native speakers in his own country.
    — Joseph Epstein, WSJ, 10 Aug. 2018
  • That’s partly to set themselves apart, and partly because the digital tools used by modern lexicographers are WOTY-friendly.
    — Stefan Fatsis, Slate Magazine, 3 Feb. 2017
  • The newspaper publisher and lexicographer Noah Webster averred that the pestilence emanated from the ash of a volcanic eruption in Sicily.
    — Frederick Kaufman, The New Yorker, 13 May 2020
  • Linguists and lexicographers acknowledge that linguistic innovation, and therefore linguistic survival, starts with youth speech, and especially the speech of young women.
    — Kory Stamper, The Cut, 29 Jan. 2018
  • In short, what follows might be called a creative exploration of—or a series of efflorescences from—the ways in which the pragmatic perspective of the practicing lexicographer differs from the philosopher’s ideal perspective.
    — Literary Hub, 29 Sep. 2025
  • Surprisingly, lexicographers like Kory Stamper have not been dismayed by coarse presidential language.
    — Stephanie Ebbert, BostonGlobe.com, 17 Apr. 2018
  • From there, though, the American bird became a victim of mistaken identity, according to lexicographer Erin McKean.
    — Natalie Escobar, NPR, 26 Nov. 2025
  • The compiling of dictionaries may seem a quiet topic, but this memoiristic account of the lexicographer’s art, by an editor at Merriam-Webster, is an unlikely page-turner.
    — Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker, 31 Mar. 2017
  • Particularly interesting to word nerds like Sokolowski, a lexicographer, is quarantine.
    — Leanne Italie, Anchorage Daily News, 1 Dec. 2020

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