How to Use manipulative in a Sentence

manipulative

adjective
  • That doesn’t seem that manipulative to me.
    — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 15 Jan. 2026
  • Gay had been traumatized by a manipulative co-star and didn’t want to live through that again.
    — Meredith Blake, Los Angeles Times, 23 Jan. 2024
  • The latter can be a sign that the friendship is manipulative and unhealthy.
    — Sahaj Kaur Kohli, Anchorage Daily News, 3 June 2023
  • Kyle didn’t mean for the text to be manipulative (according to her), but Dorit saw it as such.
    — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 19 Nov. 2024
  • The world was less critical, less harsh and less manipulative.
    — Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 11 Dec. 2025
  • Stephanie Berry steals all her scenes as the wily and manipulative Claudine.
    — Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 May 2026
  • And then there’s also a little bit of a manipulative factor.
    — E. Alex Jung, Vulture, 13 Nov. 2025
  • But lurking beneath those eyes was a cunning and manipulative killer.
    — Sean Durns, The Washington Examiner, 6 June 2025
  • Sometimes sympathy can feel very manipulative to me in movies, and most of the time, not really earned.
    — Outside, 10 Mar. 2026
  • Harden is a prodding, manipulative guard who wants defensive hands to get caught in the cookie jar.
    — Tony Jones, New York Times, 18 May 2026
  • This is why all the whining and complaining from small market teams across the sport is manipulative nonsense.
    — Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 17 Apr. 2026
  • As things go from bad to deadly, the question is, is Cherry a manipulative social climber?
    — Joe Otterson, Variety, 2 May 2024
  • For some, the sad parts of this movie were cheap and manipulative, but just like his comedy, Sandler likes his emotions big.
    — Jesse David Fox, Vulture, 30 July 2025
  • In a letter to Brown, Edens described him as a sociopath and manipulative child rapist.
    — oregonlive, 1 Nov. 2022
  • McKenna is a dynamic skater who can both burst up the ice with the puck and be shifty and manipulative in the offensive zone.
    — Joshua Kloke, New York Times, 2 June 2026
  • In the script, Valentina was much more tough, dry, manipulative, not emotional.
    — Damon Wise, Deadline, 16 June 2026
  • Each should feel genuine, not manipulative.
    — Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
  • After many fans of the show accused the women in series nine of being manipulative, Olivia is ready to show fans her true self.
    — Meg Walters, Glamour, 9 Jan. 2025
  • Ana, with her anger issues and manipulative ways, is the prime suspect, not just to the police but to her sister, relatives and all her friends.
    — Oline H. Cogdill, Sun Sentinel, 26 Mar. 2026
  • The bottom line is that selling doesn’t have to feel pushy, manipulative, or uncomfortable.
    — Melissa Houston, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2025
  • Musk's lawyers argued that the tweet in question was impromptu and not intended to be manipulative.
    — Christopher Hutton, Washington Examiner, 3 Feb. 2023
  • The targets of their anti-fandom are manipulative and ambitious, as a rule, but also stupid.
    — Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 17 May 2022
  • Yet the moment felt more protective than manipulative, almost like a closing of ranks after too much had been exposed.
    — Jennifer Homans, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2024
  • He was accused of grooming and manipulative behavior when the victim was less than 18 years old.
    — Maya Wilkins, Chicago Tribune, 28 July 2025
  • The colonial world sees our beauty as a manipulative currency.
    — Akilah Sailers, Essence, 29 Oct. 2025
  • Red Alert is manipulative, as is clearest in two storylines in which suspense is built over whether or not a baby is going to cry.
    — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 7 Oct. 2025
  • What strikes some as manipulative will crack open others, as the film offers a kind of connection that’s all too rare, and maybe even impossible.
    — Peter Debruge, Variety, 31 Aug. 2023
  • However, this metric appears to pave the way for some manipulative tactics.
    — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 11 Aug. 2025
  • Ken, of course, thinks the king should be him, but as the siblings reveal to one another, they’ve all been promised the keys to the kingdom by their manipulative father.
    — Anne Branigin, Washington Post, 29 May 2023
  • The commenter added that the behavior felt manipulative and unhealthy, urging her not to sacrifice her well being to keep the peace.
    — Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 29 Dec. 2025

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