How to Use pep in a Sentence

pep

1 of 2 noun
  • The young teacher was full of pep.
  • There was pep in my step this week for sure.
    — CBS News, 30 Nov. 2025
  • Let’s put some pep in laundry day.
    — Patricia Shannon, Better Homes & Gardens, 14 Feb. 2026
  • Give yourself pep talks, but don’t be afraid to seek out help.
    — Johnny Nash, Forbes, 17 May 2022
  • Either way, this is a program with pep in its step now.
    — Seth Emerson, New York Times, 22 Jan. 2026
  • Add a pep in your step with our edit of the best styles, below.
    — Minty Mellon, Vogue, 23 Feb. 2026
  • Adams is not the first politician to try to fight a crisis with pep.
    — Eric Lach, The New Yorker, 8 Jan. 2022
  • Here's a pink that'll add an extra pep to your kitchen dance parties.
    — Medgina Saint-Elien, House Beautiful, 28 Aug. 2023
  • The two began to dance and jiggle and move around with a pep in their step.
    — Vulture, 7 Jan. 2024
  • Diced sweet onion, tossed into the salad at the end, gives it some pep.
    — G. Daniela Galarza, Washington Post, 31 July 2023
  • The right pair of shoes can put some extra pep in your step at baggage claim.
    — Amelia McBride, Travel + Leisure, 8 Oct. 2025
  • Perhaps there was not quite the same twinkle in their eyes or pep in their step.
    — Ian O'Connor, New York Times, 10 June 2026
  • Everyone walks around with a pep in their step when these people are on set.
    — Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 1 June 2023
  • These beauties will keep the pep in your step during long days at the office.
    — Brad Lanphear, Men's Health, 5 Sep. 2023
  • That’s the sort of thinking that can really take the pep out of an evening.
    — Helen Shaw, New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2025
  • Then the game began, and those pep talks and maxims appeared to be wiped away.
    — Adam Himmelsbach, BostonGlobe.com, 20 Jan. 2023
  • The rubber sole has strong traction, and the springy midsoles add a pep to your step.
    — Amy Schulman, Peoplemag, 12 July 2023
  • After the layup, Adama Sanogo jumped off the bench with a pep in his step.
    — Shreyas Laddha, courant.com, 17 Feb. 2022
  • Make a pot then pour over your biscuits for a extra pep in your step in the morning.
    — Patricia S York, Southern Living, 17 June 2026
  • Grande exclaimed, before pep-talking the queens, who were gagged to see her.
    — Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 6 Jan. 2023
  • These upbeat songs are all intended to put some pep in your step and a smile on your face.
    — Amy Eisinger, M.a., SELF, 17 Mar. 2023
  • Just sprinkle the snack, crushing it along the way, over any dish in need of extra pep.
    — Rebecca Firsker, Bon Appétit, 26 July 2022
  • The sauce gets its pep and sweetness from ketchup, molasses, mustard, and a dash of cayenne.
    — Lizzy Briskin, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 May 2026
  • One of them is live for just one day, so be sure to put some pep in your step while shopping the sales online.
    — Katie Decker-Jacoby, StyleCaster, 2 July 2026
  • The gift, showered upon him for opening his accounts, put a pep in his step.
    — Annamaria Andriotis, wsj.com, 5 May 2023
  • And then the song snaps back into place, its pep suddenly restored.
    — Lauren Michele Jackson, The New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2022
  • This pair from Dai Moda will add pep to your step thanks to its cool pattern.
    — Woman's Day, 22 Feb. 2023
  • Many turbo cars feel flat at low revs, but the XT has plenty of pep around town.
    — Rich Ceppos, Car and Driver, 7 May 2023
  • Or to have a pep band play your walk-up song to the plate, and then actually follow you to the plate.
    — Kent Somers, The Arizona Republic, 3 July 2022
  • Horsley knew the students had a pep rally earlier in the day to teach them how to cheer.
    — Courtney Tanner, The Salt Lake Tribune, 6 Sep. 2022

pep

2 of 2 verb
  • Hardy fresh herbs, such as parsley and rosemary, can pep up any pantry meal, as can garlic and lemon juice or zest.
    — Jessica Battliana, SFChronicle.com, 18 Mar. 2020
  • Needle drop refers to those times when something’s not working in the editing room and the movie needs a song to kind of pep it up.
    — Gary Thompson, Philly.com, 22 June 2017
  • This beautiful and easy-to-grow plant will pep up your garden and your fermentation process.
    — Karen Wytmans, Better Homes & Gardens, 25 Mar. 2021
  • This one from Versace is sure to pep up any outfit with its graphic Greek key motif in vivid red and blue.
    — Kareem Rashed, Robb Report, 23 Nov. 2021
  • China pepped up its economy with faster credit growth and other fillips to spending.
    — The Economist, 18 Jan. 2018
  • Women can choose between a skirt or pants, while the men's uniforms pep up Alitalia's navy suits with big gold buttons.
    — Julia Buckley, CNN, 1 June 2022
  • Seventeen created the perfect study playlist that will pep you up without distracting you from your notes.
    — Seventeen Magazine, Seventeen, 16 June 2012
  • Spring was accompanied by spritely steps that turned languid in the summer and the piece pepped up once more as fall rounded the corner.
    — Lilah Ramzi, Vogue, 4 May 2018
  • Central banks have failed to pep up inflation, which has hovered well below the 2% or so targeted by most ratesetters in the rich world.
    — The Economist, 8 Aug. 2019
  • But otherwise the band continues to perform its mission of wowing audiences and pepping up crowds to cheer on the football team.
    — Meg Jones, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 18 Oct. 2019
  • The late bids are promising to pep up an otherwise quiet race, and both Barragán and her rivals are plotting for the June 5 primary.
    — Javier Panzar, latimes.com, 7 Mar. 2018
  • In addition to nudging call agents to pep up their tone, or respond to distress in a caller’s voice, Cogito’s software listens to the pace and pattern of calls.
    — Tom Simonite, WIRED, 19 Mar. 2018
  • Bitters are a simple combination of high-proof, neutral grain alcohol infused with bittering roots or herbs, and can be pepped up with aromatic and flavored plants or spices.
    — Meghan Nesmith, Bon Appetit, 16 May 2017
  • These are the kind of questions whose answers can pep up your dinner table/car ride conversations and, at the same time, lay the groundwork for launching your child on the path towards financial success.
    — Chris Carosa, Forbes, 19 Apr. 2021
  • Then, in 2017, trade recovered strongly as China’s government sought to pep up domestic growth.
    — The Economist, 10 Oct. 2019
  • Innovation spreads faster in a unified market, pepping up productivity.
    — The Economist, 12 Sep. 2019
  • The claims haven’t changed in decades—lavender summons the sandman; peppermint peps you up—but modern manifestations are decidedly more luxe than those amber bottles at the health-food store.
    — April Long, Marie Claire, 20 Feb. 2019
  • Chapman used products including vitamin C, hyaluronic acid, a hydrating booster and pep 8 serum to combat air travel dehydration.
    — Monique Jessen, PEOPLE.com, 9 June 2022
  • More Stories The point of an official emcee, who introduces an awards show with a long, jokey monologue and then occasionally bursts in to pep things up throughout the night, was much debated earlier this year.
    — David Sims, The Atlantic, 23 Sep. 2019

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