How to Use pragmatism in a Sentence

pragmatism

noun
  • The right person for the job will balance vision with pragmatism.
  • Democrats have moved from pragmatism to pugilism.
    — Domenico Montanaro, NPR, 11 Nov. 2025
  • And the passion on the right has led to a kind of pragmatism on the left.
    — Kevin Townsend, The Atlantic, 18 June 2026
  • Now that the war is here, the space for pragmatism has receded.
    — Mohammed Sergie, semafor.com, 1 Apr. 2026
  • Of course, this bird feeder offers a lot more than pragmatism.
    — Kelsey Mulvey, Southern Living, 19 May 2021
  • Even their pragmatism, though, comes with an element of risk.
    — Cody Stavenhagen, New York Times, 25 July 2025
  • There is a shift more towards pragmatism or what's in it for me on the national scale.
    — / Cbs News, CBS News, 18 May 2025
  • They were not roped and tied by ideology when pragmatism was the best path to progress.
    — Gov. Butch Otter, idahostatesman, 8 Jan. 2018
  • Taken as a whole, though, this was a season infused with a sense of pragmatism.
    — Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue, 26 Jan. 2019
  • Davis promised to get down to technical details and called for pragmatism on both sides.
    — Nikos Chrysoloras, Bloomberg.com, 25 Sep. 2017
  • Her clothes reveal a solid sense of pragmatism — who’s going to wear these things?
    — Cathy Horyn, The Cut, 27 Feb. 2018
  • My dominant traits were a mix of earth, for pragmatism, and fire, for passion.
    — Janine Di Giovanni, Travel + Leisure, 11 Oct. 2025
  • That kind of pragmatism has stuck with church leaders, said Mason.
    — The Salt Lake Tribune, 17 Nov. 2022
  • Douthat sometimes extends this pragmatism to his critiques of the left.
    — Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 11 Sep. 2023
  • But if clean energy is to have a chance, pragmatism and profit motive must rule the day.
    — Christopher Helman, Forbes, 27 May 2022
  • Meanwhile, the sporty pragmatism of a leather Fendi bag scores big points for those tired of plain old totes.
    — WSJ, 10 Mar. 2022
  • This type of pragmatism will take a bright young man far in the meritocracy.
    — Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 3 Mar. 2026
  • The same firm that pitched investors on pragmatism this week will be asking investors to bet on wild dreams the next time around.
    — Washington Post, 19 Sep. 2019
  • Fromm’s pragmatism comes from a lot of years of living very cheaply in a very expensive city.
    — Sam Whiting, SFChronicle.com, 28 June 2018
  • Yet his latest stance evoked a mixture of anger and pragmatism from fellow Democrats.
    — Arkansas Online, 16 July 2022
  • Trump himself has learned some of that same bottom-line pragmatism where the party is concerned.
    — Bill Barrow, Chicago Tribune, 23 Aug. 2025
  • Lorne’s generous with telling you the black arts of it, the realpolitik of how things get made, the pragmatism.
    — Jesse David Fox, Vulture, 4 Dec. 2024
  • What stood out to her was not leaderboard glory but enterprise pragmatism.
    — Sharon Goldman, Fortune, 9 Sep. 2025
  • For some, this is a battle between the game’s pragmatism and purity.
    — Patrick Boyland, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2026
  • Carrick has a degree of pragmatism.
    — Andy Mitten, New York Times, 14 May 2026
  • There’s a level of pragmatism to Dick throughout the season, right?
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 8 Dec. 2025
  • That record is a testament to the party’s pragmatism and prudence.
    — David Frum, The Atlantic, 15 Jan. 2025
  • There's no need to let the principle of the thing ruin some perfectly good pragmatism.
    — Carolyn Hax, Philly.com, 24 Oct. 2017
  • There’s no need to let the principle of the thing ruin some perfectly good pragmatism.
    — Carolyn Hax, idahostatesman, 23 Oct. 2017
  • But the key in today’s environment is adding a little pragmatism to the mix.
    — Kj Dhaliwal, Forbes, 26 Jan. 2023

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