How to Use privet in a Sentence

privet

noun
  • One problem with privet is scales.
    — Steve Bender, Southern Living, 10 Mar. 2026
  • Note that making cuts to privet will encourage it to sprout more.
    — Sarah Everett, The Spruce, 11 May 2026
  • Methods for removal depend on the size of the privet.
    — Sarah Everett, The Spruce, 11 May 2026
  • Hajek had come to assess what had been going on behind the privet.
    — Andrew Rice, Curbed, 26 June 2025
  • Due to its large leaves, waxleaf privet is best suited to large topiary sculptures.
    — Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 6 Apr. 2026
  • Waxleaf privet is one of the easiest care topiary trees.
    — Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 6 Apr. 2026
  • And what garden is complete without a towering privet hedge and palm trees!
    — Kathleen Hackett, House Beautiful, 30 Aug. 2017
  • Tuck in Italian ruscus all the way around until the wreaths are covered; then add sprigs of privet berries.
    — Cameron Beall, Southern Living, 8 Jan. 2026
  • Greenery such as eucalyptus leaves, privet berries, and pieris relate to the virescent forms on each book cover.
    — Jennifer Fernandez, ELLE Decor, 27 Apr. 2017
  • The mission targets invasive privet, a fast-growing shrub that crowds out native plants and spreads quickly.
    — Dallas Morning News, 5 Feb. 2026
  • Research whether privet overcrowds native plants in your area and supports local wildlife before planting.
    — Sarah Everett, The Spruce, 11 May 2026
  • The branches become smothered in frothy, white blooms which, unfortunately, smell very much like privet blooms.
    — Washington Post, 5 June 2019
  • Many people refer to privet by its botanical name, Ligustrum.
    — Steve Bender, Southern Living, 10 Mar. 2026
  • These are places of extreme privilege, but inside the privet hedge the story that unfolds is the same one that unfolds inside chain link.
    — Lesley Finn, Longreads, 7 July 2022
  • In either case, removing the root system is necessary because privet quickly re-sprouts from roots and stumps.
    — Sarah Everett, The Spruce, 11 May 2026
  • Depending on the species, privet hedges can be aggressive invaders that form dense thickets that shade nearby native plants.
    — Sj McShane, Martha Stewart, 5 Apr. 2026
  • One of the fastest growing shrubs on this list, north privet matures rapidly to a height of up to 8 to 12 feet tall and 4 to 6 feet wide.
    — Patricia Shannon, Southern Living, 17 May 2026
  • On a handsome terrace a few miles east, an ordinary privet has been transformed into an ocean liner, complete with cresting wave.
    — Kieran Dodds; Text By Peter Ross, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Oct. 2020
  • Poisoning privet isn’t an option in a floodplain; instead it’s been carefully removed by hand.
    — Sharon Grigsby, Dallas News, 1 Oct. 2021
  • As a result, privets are incredibly invasive and weedy.
    — Steve Bender, Southern Living, 10 Mar. 2026
  • In the forest, privet occupies one million acres of timberland, and is the second most invasive plant.
    — Jefferson County Cooperative Extension, AL.com, 29 Mar. 2018
  • Just to the east, a draw etched by Five Mile Creek cuts through the lush property, much of which is thick with nasty invasive privet.
    — Dallas News, 10 June 2022
  • Examples include lilacs, forsythia, privet, old-fashioned abelia, and many hollies.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 20 Aug. 2025
  • The result is a forest that once again is able to flourish, where the beauty of the cottonwoods, hickories, elms, ash and pecans isn’t choked by the aggressive privet.
    — Sharon Grigsby, Dallas News, 1 Oct. 2021
  • After half a century, the prison was abandoned and the land — apart from a police shooting range — was reclaimed by pines and privet, dewberry and muscadine vines.
    — Jenny Jarvie, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2023
  • Waxleaf privet can grow in full or part sun and is perennial in USDA Zones 7 through 11.
    — Steve Bender, Southern Living, 30 May 2026
  • Today the trash is gone, as is most of the invasive Chinese privet, a nasty undergrowth that overwhelms native trees and vegetation.
    — Sharon Grigsby, Dallas News, 1 Oct. 2021
  • Our creek-side hardwood bottoms are highly susceptible to privet infestations.
    — Jefferson County Cooperative Extension, AL.com, 29 Mar. 2018
  • Beware of confusing north privet with its invasive cousin, Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense).
    — Patricia Shannon, Southern Living, 10 June 2025
  • The Path was maybe three feet wide, broken cement, overhung in places by my grandmother’s privet hedge, whose tiny white blossoms carried the scent of my Brooklyn childhood.
    — Gabrielle Glancy, Rolling Stone, 9 May 2026

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