How to Use litmus test in a Sentence

litmus test

noun
  • The party is using attitudes about gun control as a litmus test for political candidates.
  • But it’s meant as a litmus test.
    — Rachel Handler, Vulture, 14 May 2026
  • That should be the litmus test.
    — Gary Franks, Hartford Courant, 11 Apr. 2026
  • Think of them as more of a Rorschach test than a litmus test.
    — Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz, USA TODAY, 2 Apr. 2021
  • This moment will serve as a litmus test for the next four years.
    — Doug Melville, Forbes, 22 Dec. 2024
  • Rivers' free agency should be a telling litmus test on both fronts.
    — Ben Golliver, courant.com, 25 June 2019
  • How the game goes could be a litmus test for both franchises.
    — Shayna Rubin, The Mercury News, 27 Jan. 2024
  • But the real litmus test is what a host is like behind closed doors.
    — Boris Fishman, Travel + Leisure, 21 Feb. 2022
  • Monday night was a litmus test for the 49ers.
    — Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 25 Nov. 2025
  • Trump has stressed a desire for rate cuts as a litmus test for the new central bank chief.
    — Sean Conlon,pia Singh, CNBC, 26 Jan. 2026
  • The opening series is a litmus test.
    — Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 26 Mar. 2026
  • For decades, ethanol has been a true litmus test in the Hawkeye State.
    — Miranda Green, The New Republic, 10 Feb. 2020
  • The age of 81 alone is not the litmus test of one’s ability to serve.
    — Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 3 Aug. 2024
  • Even if the president never even asked them what the litmus test, that's the idea.
    — Fox News, 3 July 2018
  • Any number of people could’ve told me to try this litmus test (and plenty have).
    — Maria Del Russo, Glamour, 17 Apr. 2018
  • Dollander will be the litmus test.
    — Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 6 Feb. 2026
  • That’s been the litmus test, really.
    — Matt Minton, Variety, 19 June 2026
  • And the issue of slavery reparations has emerged as a litmus test for the field.
    — John Fritze, USA TODAY, 20 July 2019
  • The resolution process of the housing lender will prove to be a litmus test for the law.
    — Sangeeta Tanwar, Quartz India, 28 Nov. 2019
  • As long as the state is first, it's seen as the first serious litmus test of a candidate.
    — Clare Ulmer, USA TODAY, 4 Feb. 2020
  • To me, the litmus test and one of the ways that really shows up for Brady is on third-and-eight.
    — Los Angeles Times, 23 Nov. 2020
  • First, this cannot be considered a litmus test for the Spartans.
    — Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press, 2 Sep. 2017
  • The Seagoville game appeared to a key litmus test Pinkston passed.
    — Rick Kretzschmar, Dallas News, 15 Sep. 2022
  • And that makes this game the ultimate litmus test for the Niners.
    — Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 22 Nov. 2025
  • The fraud debaters offer many preferred litmus tests.
    — David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 14 Dec. 2025
  • But again, Saturday evening with serve as a great litmus test for the Ducks.
    — Matthew Schmidt, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2025
  • How will that play out in an era when school choice has become a GOP litmus test?
    — Henry Gass, The Christian Science Monitor, 9 Mar. 2023
  • The litmus tests of usability are the lights and windshield wipers.
    — Christopher Elliott, USA TODAY, 17 Dec. 2017
  • The question of which feels truer to Kirk, and to Trek, serves as a litmus test for fans of the show.
    — Keith Phipps, Vox, 29 June 2018
  • Sleeping well after a big decision has always been my litmus test to know if a jump is right.
    — Alex Ross, PEOPLE, 23 Sep. 2025

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