How to Use textualism in a Sentence

textualism

noun
  • This case brought those two core principles to a head, and strict textualism won.
    — Henry Gass, The Christian Science Monitor, 16 June 2020
  • In a nutshell, textualism generally means reading the statute as it is written.
    — Matt Ford, The New Republic, 24 Jan. 2022
  • In practice, textualism also takes into account the semantic contexts in which words or phrases are used.
    — Brian Duignan, Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 Apr. 2026
  • Alito has been guided by his strict adherence to textualism, or emphasizing the words of a law as written.
    — Orlando Mayorquin, USA TODAY, 21 Apr. 2022
  • Barrett has condemned as a canard the widespread view that textualism is literalism.
    — Ed Whelan, National Review, 1 Oct. 2020
  • Breyer sums up textualism and originalism as attempts to make judicial reasoning a science and to make law a list of rules.
    — Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
  • Liberals shouldn’t like a decision that relies on textualism.
    — Noah Feldman, Mercury News, 15 May 2026
  • Liberals shouldn’t like a decision that relies on textualism.
    — Noah Feldman, Twin Cities, 14 May 2026
  • This is a man who really cares very deeply about the traditional judicial role, originalism, textualism.
    — WSJ, 10 Apr. 2017
  • The Justice is best known for his commitment to textualism, a method of interpretation that hinges on the literal meaning of the law at the time when it was written.
    — Alex Barasch, The New Yorker, 17 Sep. 2021
  • That is supported by a ruling by the champion of textualism, the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
    — The Economist, 10 Oct. 2019
  • In their briefs, conservative groups will advance theories of judging known as textualism and originalism.
    — Paul M. Collins, The Conversation, 19 Oct. 2020
  • Leo was a close friend of Antonin Scalia, who instilled in him an affinity for the judicial philosophies known as originalism and textualism.
    — Jeffrey Toobin, The New Yorker, 7 Apr. 2017
  • Gorsuch’s textualist ruling was denounced by some of his conservative colleagues on the court as textualism flying under a pirate flag.
    — Matt Ford, The New Republic, 14 Sep. 2021
  • The takeaway is that textualism is killing common-sense statutory interpretation.
    — Noah Feldman, The Mercury News, 9 Mar. 2024
  • In different but complementary ways, the two justices argued that Alito’s adherence to textualism is a sham.
    — Matt Ford, The New Republic, 25 May 2023
  • Justice Antonin Scalia spent his early years on the court writing separately to expound the virtues of originalism and textualism.
    — Noah Robertson, The Christian Science Monitor, 27 Jan. 2022
  • As Breyer points out, a majority of the Court now subscribes to the interpretive methods known as textualism and originalism.
    — Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
  • Judge Kavanaugh considers textualism to be an important restraint on judges that prevents them from imposing their policy preferences.
    — David B. Rivkin Jr. and Andrew M. Grossman, WSJ, 9 July 2018
  • Originalism and textualism aim to wield historical rigor to help constrain judges to follow rules written by the people’s representatives.
    — Dan McLaughlin, National Review, 17 Mar. 2022
  • The Court now rigidly reads legal texts through originalism and textualism, both of which concentrate power in the judiciary, and especially in the Supreme Court.
    — Duncan Hosie, The Atlantic, 13 Jan. 2026
  • But that didn't matter, according to Gorsuch's theory of statutory interpretation, known as textualism.
    — Noah Feldman Bloomberg Opinion, Star Tribune, 6 Apr. 2021
  • The outcome may hinge on Justice Gorsuch, who portrayed himself as caught between a commitment to textualism and an aversion to judicial intervention in legislative matters.
    — The Economist, 8 Oct. 2019
  • The courts have grown much more rigorous in doing so since the mid 1980s, under the influence of Justice Antonin Scalia’s advocacy for textualism.
    — The Editors, National Review, 18 Jan. 2024
  • There are those in the conservative legal movement who genuinely think that originalism and textualism are the most reliable and most value-neutral way to interpret the Constitution and read federal statutes.
    — Matt Ford, The New Republic, 2 Dec. 2021
  • Justice Scalia championed textualism and originalism, the judicial philosophy that legal interpretation begins and ends with the text of the law and its original meaning.
    — Tod Worner, National Review, 25 Oct. 2020
  • The precepts of originalism and textualism reinforce the Straussian focus on foundation texts, the timeless universality of frozen language, and moral dissipation.
    — Peter Hammond Schwartz, The New Republic, 3 Feb. 2021
  • Many of the court's conservatives have adopted a different view, vowing adherence to originalism and textualism which resists evolution in interpretation based on changing circumstances in society and the law.
    — Devin Dwyer, ABC News, 10 Feb. 2022
  • Originalism and textualism have been championed by conservatives as methods to rein in liberal jurisprudence that reads constitutional rights expansively.
    — Jacob Gershman, WSJ, 26 Sep. 2020
  • The Federalist Society had brought the legal doctrines of originalism and textualism — close readings of laws and the Constitution to adhere to the intent and words of the authors — into the mainstream.
    — Andy Kroll, ProPublica, 9 Mar. 2023

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

Last Updated: