How to Use preen in a Sentence

preen

verb
  • And Schiff preens, makes speeches about virtue and shows no shame.
    — John Kass, chicagotribune.com, 12 Dec. 2019
  • Give birds a place to preen by setting up a bird bath in your flower bed.
    — Madeline Buiano, Martha Stewart, 9 Apr. 2026
  • Using his tongue, the parrot holds the small stone in place to preen his plumage.
    — David Kindy, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Sep. 2021
  • When the tape ended, Lefty sat in that courtroom and preened.
    — Jimmy Breslin, Esquire, 20 Mar. 2017
  • While patiently waiting for a food clue, the birds will preen.
    — Jim Williams, Star Tribune, 25 Aug. 2020
  • Smoked meat hung from the ceiling, and chickens preened beneath her bed.
    — Jonathan Kaiman, latimes.com, 16 Aug. 2017
  • In complying with that final edict, Foles does not strut or preen.
    — Ben Shpigel, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2018
  • Up above, ministers preened and fretted over the lack of snowfall.
    — Andrew Roth, Washington Post, 28 Jan. 2018
  • Aware of her own legend without needing to preen over it, Lum has warmed to the idea.
    — Jonathan Kauffman, San Francisco Chronicle, 1 Nov. 2017
  • As these gentlemen posed and preened, a new, colonial modern style emerged.
    — H.m.a. Leow, JSTOR Daily, 13 Sep. 2025
  • No one comes to preen and promote, and failing to listen is a cardinal sin.
    — Nicole Blackwood, chicagotribune.com, 25 June 2019
  • From the fish tanks come the Dungeness crabs and whorls of eel, the flesh fluffy and preening from the heat of the wok.
    — Ligaya Mishan, New York Times, 21 Sep. 2017
  • The goose will preen her ponytail while vocalizing with a playlist of notes and volumes.
    — Kevin Spear, orlandosentinel.com, 24 Nov. 2021
  • What’s on display here might better be described as a preening form of emptiness.
    — Mick Lasalle, San Francisco Chronicle, 20 Nov. 2023
  • Demerzel gasps, and for once Day isn’t preening in the mirror but bowing his head.
    — Jp Mangalindan, Time, 12 Sep. 2025
  • Standing out is hardly a matter of preening or flaunting plumage.
    — Rebecca Farley, refinery29.com, 29 May 2018
  • Each one will be groomed and pampered, allowed a few snacks and even a nap or two, and then poked and prodded and allowed to preen.
    — New York Times, 12 Feb. 2020
  • It was thought the peacock might have been preening in the shiny reflection of the vehicle.
    — Carol Cormaci, latimes.com, 9 July 2018
  • And the people started preening themselves and so on, expecting to be named by him.
    — Glenn Zorpette, IEEE Spectrum, 2 Sep. 2024
  • And Brand will preen and prance and shake his bells, proclaiming the void within him, which is the void within us all.
    — James Parker, The Atlantic, 10 June 2018
  • Most teams have a player or two -- or three -- who'll flop and preen and play-act like babies, hoping to get a little help from the ref.
    — Steve Almasy, CNN, 13 June 2018
  • Birds also preen to distribute oil to their feathers from what is called the preen gland, located at the base of the tail.
    — Jim Williams, Star Tribune, 25 Aug. 2020
  • But when their parents are away, the nestlings take turns napping, preening each other and talking to themselves.
    — Karen Hopkin, Scientific American, 12 May 2023
  • The agile jaw probably allowed the bird to preen its feathers and gave it a pincerlike grasp.
    — Gretchen Vogel, Science | AAAS, 2 May 2018
  • Like a preening pageant contestant, the restaurant is beautiful and knows it.
    — Michael Mayo, sun-sentinel.com, 20 June 2019
  • When this reporter noted that the one-in-a-million cardinal has the right to preen a bit, Chelsea agreed.
    — al, 9 Mar. 2021
  • Peace-Park is a place crowded with the youth, many of the women in full make-up, the young men preening in their best outfits.
    — TIME.com, 19 Oct. 2017
  • The Wall preened for magazine pictorials and played the heavy in spy novels.
    — Time, 8 Nov. 2019
  • Litigation is slow, and discovery will take time, but the arc of the moral universe is built on more than just preening and tweets.
    — Dahlia Lithwick, Slate Magazine, 12 Oct. 2017
  • Far from being put off by his preening son, Archie encouraged his quirkiness.
    — Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 9 Feb. 2026

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