How to Use then in a Sentence

then

1 of 2 adverb
  • Just then he walked in.
  • She lived in the Soviet Union, as it then was called.
  • Back then, he was living in New York.
  • The glass then broke on the ground.
    — Angel Saunders, PEOPLE, 31 Oct. 2025
  • What to do, then, about screen time?
    — Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 23 Oct. 2025
  • Travis then talked about some of the menu items.
    — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 23 Oct. 2025
  • Yields then slid late in the day when oil prices eased.
    — Arkansas Online, 10 Mar. 2026
  • Ohtani spun and winced but then strode straight to first base.
    — Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 27 May 2026
  • Hacker is in a good place then.
    — Michael Osipoff, Chicago Tribune, 21 Apr. 2026
  • Scrub the area with a soft brush or sponge, then rinse and dry.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 19 May 2026
  • But then why marry him in the first place?
    — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 3 June 2026
  • Rush said, then motioned to their son.
    — Stephanie Breijo, Los Angeles Times, 10 Feb. 2026
  • And then special teams piles on.
    — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 10 Jan. 2026
  • Both suspects then fled the scene.
    — Anders Hagstrom, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2025
  • Push for answers that sting and then act on them.
    — Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
  • Play a little, then build what works.
    — Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 30 Mar. 2026
  • But the market will change its mind then too, right?
    — CNBC, 2 Sep. 2025
  • Brush the squash halves with olive oil, then flip the squash cut-side down.
    — Carrie Honaker, Southern Living, 21 Sep. 2023
  • Protect your peace, then share from a calmer place.
    — Tarot.com, Chicago Tribune, 24 Mar. 2026
  • And then just start throwing out ideas of how to save it.
    — John Ramos, CBS News, 10 June 2026
  • Name what would help daily life, then take that step.
    — Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 17 Mar. 2026
  • Wipe away dust with a slightly damp cloth and then dry well.
    — Mary Marlowe Leverette, The Spruce, 16 Feb. 2026
  • Stir, then taste and add more salt and/or lime juice as needed.
    — ABC News, 23 Feb. 2026
  • Watch the fish engulf the bug and turn or drop down then set the hook.
    — Bill May, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 1 May 2021
  • Her iguana, which by then was more than five feet long, stayed put.
    — H. C. Wilentz, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026
  • Squirrel White tried, then got hurt.
    — Miami Herald, 25 Sep. 2025
  • India then threw to first and got Hoskins in time.
    — Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 7 Apr. 2026
  • For second-year plants, cut back the stalk and then dig up the roots.
    — Beth Botts, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026
  • And then there's that high demand for eggs, which spikes this time of year.
    — Danielle Wiener-Bronner, CNN, 27 Dec. 2022
  • Leda nodded and then took a long slug from her can.
    — Literary Hub, 3 June 2026

then

2 of 2 adjective
  • She was accused of throwing metal chairs at him, while the then 5-year-old Indy was in the room.
    — Tabitha Parent, PEOPLE, 4 June 2026
  • Greg Allman came to one dinner with his then wife, Cher, who mistook a finger bowl for a drink and downed it.
    — Charles Bethea, The New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2023
  • She had actually been tapped by the then culture commissioner to find candidates for the post and walked out with the job.
    — Ed Meza, Variety, 11 Dec. 2023
  • While not yet confirmed, the complex was based on the layout of Xianyang, the then capital of the Qin dynasty.
    — Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 25 Dec. 2025
  • That all ended in 2010, when a grand jury indicted Alarcon and his then-wife on charges of voter fraud.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2023
  • One night, Diddy and his then head of security took her to Central Park after sunset.
    — Victoria Bekiempis, Vulture, 27 May 2025
  • Glover talked to the New York Times about clashing over the marking and promotion of his music with the then head of the label that put out his first three albums.
    — Lisa Respers France, CNN, 18 July 2024
  • Like many restaurant people put out of work during the pandemic, the couple turned to their own creativity to get by, selling tacos out of their then apartment in Harlem.
    — Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2024
  • Rebecca recruited close friends and family to be on the lookout for shoes in his then-size 17, and for larger sizes in anticipation of future growth.
    — Susan Bromley, USA TODAY, 17 Mar. 2023
  • In the picture, however, Johnson is seated at a table with two men and his then fiancée, Carrie Symonds, who is holding the couple’s new baby.
    — Anna Russell, The New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2024
  • Ramaphosa also allegedly drew on his contacts with the then president of neighboring Namibia to help discreetly track down a suspect in the theft who had fled there, according to the report.
    — ABC News, 26 May 2026
  • But the government lost the marquee count that Kelly and his then-business manager successfully rigged his state child pornography trial in 2008.
    — Michael Tarm, USA TODAY, 17 Feb. 2023
  • The descent itself began in 2003, when he was convicted of domestic abuse against his then-girlfriend, Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss.
    — Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 3 Mar. 2023
  • Eli McCann, 41, (@eliwmccann) posted a clip on TikTok, recounting a moment from several years ago when his then 5-year-old niece was exploring his house and wandered into his bedroom.
    — Daniella Gray, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Sep. 2025
  • Sampaio began his political career while studying law at Lisbon University in the late 1950s, rising through the ranks of underground student movements which opposed the then dictatorship of António Salazar.
    — Barry Hatton, ajc, 10 Sep. 2021
  • The then-school administrator was accused of hosting an open house party where underage students were allegedly consuming alcohol and using drugs, according to a police report obtained by PEOPLE.
    — Chris Spargo, PEOPLE, 4 Feb. 2026
  • According to the wrongful death complaint obtained by PEOPLE, Virgil was on the cruise to Ensenada, Mexico, with his fiancé, his then 7-year-old son and family members.
    — Christine Pelisek, PEOPLE, 8 Dec. 2025

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