How to Use realpolitik in a Sentence

realpolitik

noun
  • But some of the fence-sitting is down to hard-nosed realpolitik.
    — Monica Mark, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 Apr. 2022
  • This stroke of realpolitik would leave ByteDance in a tricky spot.
    — Emily Baker-White, Forbes, 16 Dec. 2024
  • Trump’s realpolitik may be the only way to end the Ukraine war.
    — FOXNews.com, 5 Jan. 2026
  • Nor was this a story limited to the realpolitik of the elite.
    — Jerry Brotton, The Atlantic, 13 Sep. 2017
  • The stakes couldn’t be higher and hinge on the deft balancing of realpolitik.
    — Charlie Campbell / Yerevan, TIME, 22 Oct. 2024
  • Machiavellian realpolitik can get you far in life, but only so far.
    — Vance Serchuk, National Review, 12 Sep. 2019
  • But that kind of nihilistic realpolitik is no match for the emotions such agents traffic in.
    — Josephine Livingstone, The New Republic, 14 Aug. 2019
  • 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
  • Moderates should make the affirmative case for what the far left has been writing off as wishy-washy realpolitik.
    — Catherine Rampell, The Denver Post, 20 Oct. 2019
  • Those values, for Gordis, fail to address the realpolitik needs of Israel.
    — Ethan Bronner, The New York Review of Books, 12 Mar. 2020
  • There is an irony in Google’s attempt to strengthen its business by bending toward realpolitik.
    — Christopher Mims, WSJ, 17 Aug. 2018
  • Experts fear that the realpolitik of keeping the lights on means there’s less chance than ever of Beijing quitting coal in time.
    — NBC News, 28 Oct. 2021
  • Given these views, Russia’s ground rules for Ukraine—the epitome of realpolitik—were plain.
    — Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 3 May 2023
  • Most firms are, like corporations before them, students of realpolitik.
    — The Economist, 12 Sep. 2019
  • And the presidents of the past have always tried to figure out the balance between the realpolitik and our strategic interest.
    — Eric Johnson, Recode, 19 Oct. 2018
  • Forget the allusion to myth — the Russian position on Ukraine is mired in realpolitik.
    — Washington Post, 7 Dec. 2021
  • In an age of runaway AI, Palantir’s blend of realpolitik and moral restraint may be less of an anomaly and more of a preview.
    — Josipa Majic Predin, Forbes.com, 22 May 2025
  • Sansa freed herself from a bunch of male abusers, got schooled in realpolitik and became an able and sure-handed leader, disabused of the naïve courtly fantasies that used to seduce her.
    — Anna Silman, The Cut, 28 Aug. 2017
  • On the basis of realpolitik alone, freezing out Russia or, at the very least, postponing the naval exercises, may have seemed like a smarter choice.
    — David McKenzie, CNN, 19 Feb. 2023
  • Meanwhile, those who had hoped to drive out Assad see a bleak realpolitik playing out among countries that the opposition counted as backers.
    — Nabih Bulos, chicagotribune.com, 2 Sep. 2017
  • And that’s why rolling out the royal red carpet is the ultimate diplomatic move, an act of realpolitik disguised as a gesture of generosity.
    — Oscar Holland, CNN Money, 16 Sep. 2025
  • Reagan believed that although realpolitik might be pursued by other nations, the concept was alien to the United States.
    — Peter Wehner, The Atlantic, 9 Jan. 2026
  • But polls show that Orbán’s realpolitik and cautious approach to Ukraine are winning him voters who prize stability.
    — John Fund, National Review, 29 Mar. 2022
  • During this period, the party demonstrated a skill for realpolitik that Debs and Thomas were incapable of.
    — Jeet Heer, New Republic, 18 Oct. 2017
  • The best example of Europe’s new taste for realpolitik was the deal on migration with Mr Erdogan.
    — The Economist, 25 July 2019
  • For Gulf Arab states, better ties with Israel have little to do with public attitudes and more to do with realpolitik, experts say.
    — Mo Abbas, NBC news, 13 Aug. 2025
  • Tyrion Lannister, perhaps the fan favorite, is a master of realpolitik who’s made more than his share of compromises to survive.
    — David French, National Review, 16 July 2017
  • As the afterglow of the inaugural shift fades, the realpolitik of domestic and diplomatic pressures has already begun to reemerge.
    — Daniel Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 27 Jan. 2021
  • But the truth is all of these deals are tough to fathom, given the tough legal road around broadcast rules, the already-consolidating marketplace and the realpolitik involved.
    — Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 29 June 2026
  • There are lots of reasons for the new Greek realpolitik, besides learning from the vulnerability of its past dependencies.
    — Victor Davis Hanson, The Mercury News, 6 June 2019

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