How to Use proportionate in a Sentence

proportionate

adjective
  • Each investor will receive a proportionate share of the profits.
  • Just remember to keep the size of the splurge proportionate with the size of the windfall.
    — Bruce Helmer and Peg Webb, Twin Cities, 14 July 2019
  • First, the use of force must be proportionate to the force employed by the aggressor.
    — Ronald Sullivan, The Conversation, 19 Nov. 2021
  • But the stamina of his thought is exactly proportionate to the depth of his love for his subject.
    — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 7 Jan. 2026
  • The speed of the production ramp is inversely proportionate to how many new parts and steps there are.
    — Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 22 Jan. 2026
  • Love makes memories and life precious; the grief that comes to us is proportionate to that love and is inescapable.
    — V. S. Naipaul, The New Yorker, 30 Dec. 2019
  • Big dogs, like Danes, tend to have larger litters proportionate to their larger size.
    — Zoe Sottile, CNN, 28 Mar. 2023
  • Nobody said eating the rich was going to be pretty or proportionate.
    — Jessica Kiang, Rolling Stone, 26 May 2021
  • Perhaps that was true when the cost of a college education was proportionate with salaries earned in the first five years out.
    — Karen Weaver, Forbes, 16 Apr. 2021
  • Each mask is a little better than the one before it, the seams more even, the proportions more proportionate.
    — Arthur Longworth, The New York Review of Books, 12 Apr. 2020
  • The fun part of dressing the little guys was making sure the accessories were proportionate.
    — Shannon Carlin, Vulture, 4 Mar. 2021
  • Now, costs must be proportionate to the benefit provided to each parcel that will be assessed a new fee.
    — Susan Shelley, Daily News, 18 Mar. 2026
  • Whether a more proportionate House is a fairer House is a harder question.
    — David Lautersenior Editor, Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2022
  • The diameter of the bubble is proportionate to the value of one of the variables.
    — New York Times, 23 Apr. 2020
  • The bad news is that, as more kids come down with Covid, the proportionate number who get hospitalized is going up as well.
    — Sarah Todd, Quartz, 13 Aug. 2021
  • The Sole Arbitrator is bound by such proportionate rules and has no means to override them.
    — Alexander Smith, NBC news, 13 Feb. 2026
  • Any undistributed money from draws will be pooled and shared between all clubs in the group stage in amounts proportionate to their number of wins - win more, earn more.
    — SI.com, 11 July 2019
  • Our search for criminal sentences proportionate to the crime is a quest to find a fair but adequate punishment.
    — WSJ, 13 Aug. 2018
  • Sunak had planned to give a speech explaining his more proportionate approach to the climate emergency later in the week.
    — Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2023
  • But the increase wasn’t proportionate across the different cities within the county.
    — Yoohyun Jung, Sarah Ravani, San Francisco Chronicle, 17 May 2022
  • The number of seats per ZIP code is proportionate to the share of school-age children living there.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 7 May 2021
  • Proportionality - the force used should be proportionate to the end goal.
    — Michael Lee, Fox News, 16 Aug. 2023
  • The court agreed with prosecutors that Assange could pose a flight risk, but said detention would not be proportionate.
    — Ivana Kottasová, CNN, 4 June 2019
  • Each unit owner will be paid a proportionate share of the funds based on their ownership share of the condominium, court documents show.
    — Nadine El-Bawab, ABC News, 10 Mar. 2022
  • The researchers hoped that their findings would provide a foundation for an urgent and proportionate response.
    — Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 16 Feb. 2022
  • The aim would be to ensure that any civilian harm was proportionate to the military advantage expected.
    — Adam Taylor, Washington Post, 22 Dec. 2023
  • To be fair to Kardashian, this was kind of a proportionate reaction to the jewelry in question.
    — Iris Goldsztajn, Marie Claire, 3 Nov. 2021
  • The player declined the contract after being advised that this wasn’t proportionate.
    — Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 27 Jan. 2026
  • One aspect of this is the use of disproportionate force—that the extent of the harm done to civilians should be proportionate to your military goals.
    — Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 16 Nov. 2023
  • Is the design proportionate, age-appropriate, and mindful of future hair loss?
    — Nia Bowers, USA Today, 3 Oct. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'proportionate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: