How to Use motherly in a Sentence

motherly

adjective
  • She took her motherly duties very seriously.
  • And there's a bond that forms with something like that to see the motherly love.
    — Georgia Slater, Peoplemag, 26 Sep. 2023
  • The idea of motherly instinct can go so bad so fast and just become a cliché.
    — Matthew Jacobs, Vulture, 22 June 2021
  • Don't let her motherly nature and warm sense of humor fool you.
    — Noelle Devoe, Seventeen, 19 Mar. 2018
  • But if your motherly warnings do not take, rest assured that the phase will not last long.
    — Washington Post, 26 Mar. 2021
  • Breast milk is revered as the ideal food for newborns and a sign of motherly nurture.
    — Sushma Subramanian, Washington Post, 13 May 2022
  • By the way, the motherly figure played an important role in the lives of both of you.
    — Billboard Italy, Billboard, 30 June 2021
  • Anne isn't the only one who offered proof of her mother's motherly warmth.
    — Olivia Blair, Town & Country, 26 Oct. 2017
  • Except maybe Wanda, who struck a motherly tone in their talks.
    — Han Ong, The New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2021
  • And her honesty, too, about how our culture can infect the motherly mind, can do a world of good.
    — Kathryn Jean Lopez, National Review, 11 Oct. 2021
  • But during the first stages of childhood, motherly love is more vital.
    — James Taranto, WSJ, 27 Oct. 2017
  • Which then draws parallels to the motherly figures in his life.
    — Nick Romano, EW.com, 14 Oct. 2024
  • That afternoon, his words seemed to have put a tiny crack in her motherly confidence.
    — New York Times, 15 June 2021
  • Brown did all of the regular motherly things to help Hester get there.
    — Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune, 31 July 2024
  • Hewitt cites motherly love as a major source of strength throughout her entire life.
    — Jessica Ourisman, Forbes, 13 Feb. 2025
  • The café is a labor of motherly love by its founder, Colleen Morgan.
    — Susan Dunne, courant.com, 3 Feb. 2022
  • Despite this, Jen still harbored hopes of playing a motherly role in the teen’s life.
    — Ashley Vega, People.com, 7 Apr. 2025
  • Not all of it did — Stein refers to much of her work as fictional — but the motherly concern was fair.
    — Brandon Yu, San Francisco Chronicle, 15 May 2018
  • This week started with honoring our moms and those who have acted as a motherly presence in our lives.
    — Grace Miserocchi, Chicago Tribune, 16 May 2026
  • Yeoh is fierce and cutthroat in the role, alternately motherly and vicious from one turn to the next.
    — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 4 Jan. 2024
  • Making sure your children have all their basic needs met, with a little sugar on top, that’s the motherly way.
    — Danielle Young, The Root, 9 May 2018
  • Emma plays a motherly role in her family and with the basketball team.
    — Jason Frakes, The Courier-Journal, 8 Mar. 2022
  • In the process, Kevin crashes a dirt bike and frets about all his motherly/fatherly duties.
    — Matt Miller, Esquire, 3 Oct. 2017
  • Renee agreed, and then added some motherly intuition about the outdoorsy teen who loves to fish and to go mudding with his friends.
    — Anna Lazarus Caplan, Peoplemag, 25 Oct. 2023
  • The effect is palpable, a shrine to motherly love and its power to fuel not just a practice, but a life.
    — Wren Sanders, Them, 26 July 2024
  • Their search led them to Abby, a chimp that has motherly instincts and boasts a great track record of raising orphans.
    — Carl Engelking, Discover Magazine, 7 May 2015
  • In a display of tough love, Anne kicks her out, urging her to trust her motherly instincts and not doubt herself.
    — Erin Jensen, USA Today, 28 May 2026
  • Collette is virtuosic in the role, which requires her to be motherly, depressed, and unhinged by turns.
    — Alissa Wilkinson, Vox, 1 June 2018
  • To care for him, the King family had to take over much of Keenly's motherly duties.
    — Alaa Elassar, CNN, 24 May 2020
  • Nobuyo begins to feel motherly towards her, and the wise grandma (Kiki Kilin) takes a shine to her.
    — Deborah Young, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 May 2018

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