How to Use masochism in a Sentence

masochism

noun
  • But as in all cases of masochism, the pain is a kind of pleasure, too.
    The Critic, Literary Hub, 27 Aug. 2025
  • This isn’t really about masochism.
    Michael Robbins, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025
  • In the lives of her heroines, the mourning sometimes took the form of masochism.
    Caleb Crain, The Atlantic, 10 Aug. 2021
  • Novak describes her time doing improv as a form of masochism.
    Carrie Battan, The New Yorker, 15 Jan. 2024
  • Your willingness to watch tape until your eyes were bloodshot verged on masochism.
    Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com, 10 July 2017
  • To misquote a certain grand marquis, masochism has its rewards.
    Tony Quiroga, Car and Driver, 1 July 2020
  • Themes of masochism are everywhere in his books, as is a foot-fetishism grounded in self-abasement.
    Brad Leithauser, WSJ, 7 Jan. 2022
  • In normal times jetting off to Dubai in July is an act of masochism.
    The Economist, 1 Aug. 2020
  • What’s striking about these products is their apparent masochism.
    Andrew Peaple, WSJ, 20 Apr. 2018
  • But the show too often feels like an exercise in liberal masochism.
    Judy Berman, Time, 22 June 2019
  • But rooting for the middling Wizards takes guts at best and is downright masochism at worst.
    Ken Budd, The Atlantic, 26 Oct. 2022
  • Mr Abe, a nationalist, has never had truck with war-guilt masochism.
    The Economist, 21 Nov. 2019
  • Lo admits that working with Hodgson affirms his own masochism.
    David John Chávez, Mercury News, 1 Mar. 2026
  • To expect Greece to commit to such fiscal masochism for four decades is not sensible.
    The Economist, 3 Oct. 2019
  • Remember that the point of setting difficult goals isn’t masochism.
    Mark Murphy, Forbes, 28 Oct. 2021
  • The rollicking, anthemic cries that carry the rest of the song could be mistaken for masochism.
    Natalie Morin, refinery29.com, 24 Feb. 2020
  • Fortunately, this was pre-Internet, so my masochism was kept sort of in check.
    Kristy Puchko, vanityfair.com, 3 Aug. 2017
  • Laaksonen included scenes of kink and bondage, dominance, sadism and masochism in his work.
    R. Daniel Foster, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2019
  • Indeed, female masochism is a gift that keeps giving in Dederer’s hands.
    Laura Kipnis, The Atlantic, 16 May 2017
  • Utley performs with a passion for self-sacrifice that borders on masochism.
    Andy McCullough, latimes.com, 9 Apr. 2018
  • Listening to your girlfriend cry through the wall is a form of emotional masochism that will not aid in your recovery!
    Anna Pulley, RedEye Chicago, 23 Oct. 2017
  • What makes the movie watchable as more than an exercise in masochism is that Isabelle is also a battler.
    Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 4 May 2018
  • There's a happy medium between benign neglect and masochism, and that medium is the cocktail list.
    David Wondrich, Esquire, 30 Dec. 2008
  • There’s a masochism element of loving being put through the ringer in some capacity.
    Jason Pham, StyleCaster, 22 Oct. 2025
  • The term stands for variations of bondage, dominance, submission and masochism.
    David Crary, Fox News, 8 May 2018
  • To anyone who’s lost precious hours of their own days to doomscrolling, this might sound like an exercise in digital masochism.
    Mikey O'Connell, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 June 2022
  • And thank goodness this football masochism was merely the appetizer for the Bay’s main course.
    Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 26 June 2026
  • This was an assignment for a lawyer driven by a bold mission and a small measure of masochism, not one in pursuit of glamour or safety.
    Jackson Holahan, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 June 2018
  • Big business would have to be possessed by an extreme form of masochism to even consider contributing to any rebuilding.
    Star Tribune, 4 Sep. 2020
  • The acronym stands for bondage and discipline, domination and submission, sadism and masochism.
    Dominique Fluker, Essence, 7 Sep. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'masochism.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: