How to Use the ancients in a Sentence

the ancients

plural noun
  • But the ancients did know a thing or two about real estate.
    — Stephen Collinson, CNN, 2020-12-22
  • There was nothing tame about the dog of the heavens as conceived by the ancients.
    — Joe Rao, Space.com, 23 Jan. 2026
  • At the government’s persecution of the Uyghurs, for instance, the ancients might well be shocked.
    — Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 2021-11-16
  • Foaming Clay Cleanser, which operates similar to the soap paste the ancients used.
    — Gabi Thorne, Allure, 2022-04-07
  • Another notable thinker after the ancients who addressed this question was Hobbes.
    — George G. Szpiro, Big Think, 9 Apr. 2026
  • Davis, with his first name inspired by the ancients, alluded to Greek tragedy when explaining the resolution to his decades-long case.
    — Matt Seyler, ABC News, 2023-03-03
  • Southern Ukraine, where Russian troops are now besieging cities and bombing hospitals, was well known to the ancients.
    — Timothy Snyder, The New Yorker, 2022-04-28
  • Scientists, philosophers—and parents—have asked similar questions about what is innate and what is learned in the infant brain, going all the way back to the ancients.
    — Dana G. Smith, Scientific American, 2021-11-15
  • But the pieces were so sly and quiet that this felt less like a mere reference, and more like a communion with Fortuny’s enigmatic way of working—developing some secret way to conjure the beauty of the ancients.
    — Rachel Tashjian, Harper's BAZAAR, 2023-03-07
  • Laila Nakhla is arguably Egypt’s most revered contemporary jewelry designer, with more than four decades of expertise in fusing the aesthetics of the ancients with a modern twist.
    — Mark Ellwood, Robb Report, 17 Feb. 2026
  • Regenerative agriculture dates back at least to biblical times, when the ancients practiced rudimentary crop rotation by letting their fields lie fallow in order to keep the soil rich with nutrients.
    — Sheila Marikar, Fortune, 2020-09-21
  • With a life that nearly bookended the 20th century, modern dance titan Martha Graham had one eye on the ancients and another on the contemporary moment.
    — Laura Regensdorf, Vogue, 31 Mar. 2026
  • The band’s hardcore fluency is even deeper, genuflecting before the ancients (say, Bad Brains) while still channeling the big-hearted zest of more recent lesser-knowns (say, Mental).
    — Washington Post, 2021-09-29
  • What the ancients knew, modern scientists and organizations such as the Environmental Protection Agency have confirmed.
    — Jim Morrison, Smithsonian Magazine, 2020-04-14
  • For every Pollak that offered a rejoinder to the fascist appropriation of Greece and Rome, there were apologists and collaborators who gladly excavated the ancients for the purposes of modern regimes.
    — Literary Hub, 10 Feb. 2026
  • Now, it is well understood that some scholars partial to the ancients will attempt to elevate the 1927 Yankees, led by the stoical Lou Gehrig and the epicurean Babe Ruth, as the finest of all teams to play in the city.
    — David Remnick, New Yorker, 30 May 2026
  • This often meant using classical design principles like restraint, order and geometric harmony, and adapting them by either simplifying the elements or using locally available materials instead of the expensive marble and other stones favored by the ancients.
    — Kevin D. Murphy, The Conversation, 10 Apr. 2026

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