How to Use voluntary in a Sentence

voluntary

adjective
  • He was charged with voluntary manslaughter.
  • Participation in the program is completely voluntary.
  • What's voluntary about this deal?
    — Tax Notes Staff, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
  • Practice is voluntary at this stage of the spring.
    — Elliott Teaford, Oc Register, 19 May 2026
  • Their plan is to make the program voluntary.
    — Sophie Hartley, IndyStar, 18 Mar. 2026
  • Much of that overtime is not voluntary.
    — P. Daniel Patterson, The Conversation, 20 Feb. 2026
  • The oceans run on trust The tracking of ships is voluntary.
    — Charles Edward Gehrke, The Conversation, 10 Mar. 2026
  • All four also assume that voluntary norms alone will not be enough.
    — Paulo Carvão, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026
  • The full details on our voluntary recall can be found here.
    — Anna Commander, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Sep. 2025
  • Kirk, her boss at the time, made her departure sound less voluntary.
    — Jane Mayer, The New Yorker, 29 Feb. 2024
  • But your brain doesn’t know that – at least, the parts of your brain that are not under your voluntary control.
    — Popular Mechanics, 4 Aug. 2023
  • The early outs are voluntary and will not be available for crew members.
    — Alison Sider, WSJ, 29 Nov. 2023
  • There was never anything voluntary about the draft.
    — John Whitehead, Oc Register, 23 Apr. 2026
  • That’s deeply messed up and would make the widespread voluntary wearing of hats even more baffling.
    — Vulture, 11 Sep. 2023
  • Women will be allowed to serve on a voluntary basis.
    — ABC News, 24 Apr. 2026
  • Now those statements are voluntary.
    — Calmatters, Oc Register, 21 Oct. 2025
  • To qualify, the tips must be voluntary.
    — Kelly Phillips Erb, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
  • The problem is that these commitments are vague and voluntary.
    — WIRED, 25 July 2023
  • The idea is to get voluntary compliance.
    — Gloria Casas, Chicago Tribune, 2 Apr. 2026
  • The tips must be voluntary, not mandatory.
    — Susan Tompor, Freep.com, 23 Sep. 2025
  • Pearce was not with the team for the start of the voluntary offseason program in April.
    — CBS News, 17 June 2026
  • That’s been replaced by a regime that is in theory voluntary but fickle.
    — Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 2 Oct. 2025
  • Yet the moves have mostly been symbolic and voluntary.
    — Philip Elliott, Time, 10 Sep. 2025
  • In other words, make the screening a voluntary option.
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 19 Jan. 2026
  • Vrabel said six players aren't at the voluntary sessions.
    — Matt Schooley, CBS News, 27 May 2026
  • While that move was not voluntary, Grace is used to changing locations.
    — Lily Moayeri, SPIN, 14 Apr. 2026
  • The number of voluntary quits and layoffs are level, with hires down slightly.
    — Bill Conerly, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2025
  • Almost all food, drug and product recalls are voluntary.
    — David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 5 Apr. 2026
  • As a reminder, only one session a week is open to media and the workouts are voluntary.
    — Pete Sweeney may 28, Kansas City Star, 28 May 2026
  • Taking part is voluntary – those referred, or their parents, must give their consent.
    — The Week Uk, TheWeek, 7 June 2026

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