How to Use naturalistic in a Sentence

naturalistic

adjective
  • The zoo strives to create naturalistic settings for the animals.
  • The first films were a little bit more naturalistic in style, but not very much more.
    — Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Aug. 2024
  • The women are all brown-skinned, but most of the other hues are far from naturalistic.
    — Washington Post, 17 Dec. 2021
  • But over the course of eight days, as the play digs deeper, its naturalistic trappings drop away.
    — Jesse Green, New York Times, 12 Aug. 2019
  • But your next step might be something more blob-like and naturalistic, which seems to be where the trend is heading.
    — Megan Decker, refinery29.com, 31 Mar. 2022
  • The shaded paths lead down to a series of naturalistic ponds.
    — Washington Post, 28 Dec. 2020
  • There is a real depth, too, to the naturalistic dialogue that puts flesh on those case notes’ bones.
    — Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline, 23 May 2025
  • But just because the chat is naturalistic doesn’t mean the effect isn’t just a little … strange.
    — Helen Shaw, Vulture, 23 Jan. 2021
  • Just outside, the brick terrace steps down to grassy area amid a naturalistic landscape.
    — Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 21 Apr. 2025
  • But against them come naturalistic set-pieces and lonesome doorframes that slide on via turntables.
    — David Benedict, Variety, 26 May 2023
  • That’s a more naturalistic style of storytelling and more of a heightened style.
    — Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 22 Dec. 2022
  • New ocean bungalows have a naturalistic design and fab lanai with a hanging egg chair swing.
    — Karen Cicero, Good Housekeeping, 19 May 2022
  • Here's how to weave key naturalistic garden design ideas into your own backyard in big or small ways.
    — Miranda Crowell, Better Homes & Gardens, 14 June 2026
  • This leafy arrangement is naturalistic and shows off the tulips' upright stems.
    — Abby Wolner, Better Homes & Gardens, 26 Feb. 2025
  • Get ideas for a naturalistic border or garden from the wild landscapes in your region.
    — Miranda Crowell, Better Homes & Gardens, 14 June 2026
  • Select your plants, and place your stumps in an artful yet naturalistic fashion, slightly buried in the ground.
    — Elizabeth Waddington, Treehugger, 17 Feb. 2023
  • The film’s heart is in its naturalistic lead performances.
    — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 17 Feb. 2026
  • Against the Black Hills, the Harley-as-horse metaphor feels naturalistic.
    — New York Times, 27 Oct. 2021
  • Try adding river stones to the bottom of a deep basin to adjust the water level in a naturalistic way.
    — Laura Fenton, Better Homes & Gardens, 18 Aug. 2025
  • His fingers moved in a naturalistic way and added some humanity to it.
    — Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 5 Aug. 2025
  • From our patio, a path takes you through naturalistic plantings under an arch that would act as a threshold to a vine maple against the far fence.
    — Erica Browne Grivas, Better Homes & Gardens, 21 June 2026
  • The movie is, in effect, a naturalistic horror story of a practical crime and a moral crime.
    — Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 1 Nov. 2022
  • Still, the puzzle element of the game is not quite as naturalistic as the drama itself.
    — Lewis Gordon, Wired, 18 Aug. 2021
  • The all-wood island and hardwood floor complement the tiles' naturalistic tints and shades.
    — Marisa Donnelly, Better Homes & Gardens, 29 May 2023
  • Dhont believes these to be the keys to achieving performances that feel naturalistic.
    — Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 27 Jan. 2023
  • Greif’s staging, which grows more naturalistic as the pair careens off the rails, attempts its own kind of seduction.
    — Naveen Kumar, Washington Post, 29 Jan. 2024
  • The game may look more naturalistic with Vivid mode off, but the unnatural lights befit the game’s mood.
    — Washington Post, 13 Oct. 2021
  • The Dewey scenes are the most naturalistic, or at least the only time the meta-movie falls away enough to get lost in the story for a few minutes.
    — Rance Collins, IndieWire, 22 June 2025
  • Color isn't absent from naturalistic gardens, but the palette tends to be tighter and more subdued.
    — Miranda Crowell, Better Homes & Gardens, 14 June 2026
  • And if a risk-free, stars-only safe space is the sole way to glimpse them in a more naturalistic mode, that seems to be a trade-off that millions are willing to make.
    — Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2025

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