How to Use word-for-word in a Sentence

word-for-word

1 of 2 adjective
  • The two messages are not a word-for-word match, to be sure.
    — Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 16 Jan. 2026
  • Others expect students to parrot their notes word-for-word on the exam.
    — Gerald Bradshaw, Chicago Tribune, 3 Feb. 2026
  • Bernard, the quiet seventh-round pick from Nigeria, started singing word-for-word.
    — Zach Berman, New York Times, 24 June 2026
  • According to the kids who can still recite these tales word-for-word, apparently not.
    — Mia Thurow, jsonline.com, 20 Aug. 2025
  • The team focused on concepts and emotion instead of word-for-word translation.
    — Kayla Grant, PEOPLE, 23 Apr. 2026
  • Leo is known to read his speeches word-for-word, a drastic departure from Francis’ habit of going off script.
    — Alexander Smith, NBC news, 3 Dec. 2025
  • Harrison has also started singing again, reciting word-for-word the lyrics of old 1970s hits.
    — Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 16 Feb. 2026
  • From song to song, the entire arena could be seen hitting Soulja’s nostalgic moves, and rapping lyrics word-for-word.
    — Amber Corrine, VIBE.com, 13 Oct. 2025
  • Doctors don’t treat patients by following FDA labels word-for-word and stopping there.
    — Payton Herres, STAT, 19 May 2026
  • Indeed, the new complaint includes a number of word-for-word passages lifted directly from those previous filings.
    — Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 9 Oct. 2025
  • Despite the complex, stream-of-consciousness lyrics, hundreds of mouths could be seen contorting word-for-word with Springsteen’s, giving the show an intimate, local bar atmosphere.
    — Orlando Sentinel Staff, The Orlando Sentinel, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Unlike older translation tools that convert sentences word-for-word (often leading to clunky or confusing results), Live Translation takes a more natural approach by translating phrases.
    — Susmita Baral, Travel + Leisure, 19 Sep. 2025
  • But when significant chunks of someone's writing appears word-for-word without quotation marks, it is generally considered plagiarism, according to Edward Wasserman, a professor of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley.
    — Bobby Allyn, NPR, 17 May 2026

word for word

2 of 2 adverb
  • The whole script was my story — my stand-up word for word.
    — Shamira Ibrahim, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2025
  • Not a word for word quote, so don’t quote Margaret.
    — Yvonne Villarreal, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2026
  • Good salespeople don't need to follow a script word for word.
    — Austin Irabor, Forbes.com, 30 May 2025
  • Tom Petty sang this one, word for word, while Jim shook a tam- bourine.
    — Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 16 Mar. 2025
  • Joseph’s singing-rapping was matched word for word by the audience through most of it all.
    — Chris Varias, Cincinnati.com, 23 Oct. 2019
  • Shouts of encouragement from the upper row could be heard word for word.
    — John Whisler, San Antonio Express-News, 18 Dec. 2021
  • How many of us can recite those memes about never having friends to travel with word for word?
    — Danielle Pointdujour, Essence, 17 July 2019
  • This is why professionals should test and adapt prompts rather than copying them word for word.
    — Dr. Diane Hamilton, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
  • He got busted plagiarizing in law school, five straight pages, word for word.
    — Fox News Staff, Fox News, 9 Feb. 2023
  • Distilled down, but the essence of the work and many passages from Melville are word for word in the opera.
    — Shivani Vora, Forbes, 3 Mar. 2025
  • Ginsburg writes, quoting word for word from Kennedy’s opinion.
    — Cristian Farias, Daily Intelligencer, 1 June 2018
  • The danger in memorizing your entire talk word for word is that you’re bound to mess up.
    — Andrea Heuston, Forbes, 10 Nov. 2022
  • The scene was adapted perfectly by Han, nearly word for word from the book.
    — Emily Longeretta, Variety, 7 Aug. 2025
  • The song relays, word for word, a story by his three-year-old daughter about a girl who won’t stop wiggling.
    — John Kenney, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026
  • In both season one and season two, there's very little that is word for word, or even scene for scene coming from the books.
    — Emily Burack, Town & Country, 31 Mar. 2022
  • But his rationale, almost word for word, mirrors that of his competitor just up the road.
    — al, 21 Aug. 2021
  • Note that all of these caveats can be applied, word for word, to Putin’s current effort in Ukraine.
    — Andrew L. Stigler, Twin Cities, 7 Jan. 2024
  • As a recent video revealed, reporters recite word for word the same script bearing this warning.
    — Josh McCrain, Washington Post, 10 Apr. 2018
  • But to hear people on Instagram screaming the entire song, word for word ?
    — Annie Noelker, Los Angeles Times, 9 Dec. 2022
  • One of them even seemed to copy Eufy's privacy policy, word for word.
    — Kevin Purdy, Ars Technica, 21 Dec. 2022
  • This, too, is from the novel, almost word for word, and Zaillian uses it as a north star.
    — Mark Harris, Vulture, 16 Apr. 2024
  • That means taking close to two million image files and transcribing word for word all of the other data.
    — Allison Keyes, Smithsonian, 8 Feb. 2018
  • The entire crowd — the whole stadium — was alive with song, singing the song back to Stapleton word for word.
    — Kathryn Gregory, The Courier-Journal, 3 Nov. 2019
  • Below, word for word, is Buranelli's story from the old Gazette (so, these are not my words).
    — Celia Storey, Arkansas Online, 31 Oct. 2022
  • The finished product appeared to show Kerr reciting the song nearly word for word over the course of the season.
    — Paloma Chavez, PEOPLE, 16 May 2026
  • Namely, the incandescent sound of Mitchell singing harmonies — word for word — into the back of my head.
    — George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 May 2021
  • The Bible is the actual word of God and is to be taken literally, word for word.
    — Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 3 May 2010
  • The trial is not televised nor is there live audio, so the transcripts provide the only way to read what is said in the courtroom, word for word.
    — Alan Feuer, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2024
  • The voter then scrolls down and reads the candidate promising exactly what the voter wants to see, word for word, in a tailored tone.
    — David E. Clementson, The Conversation, 21 July 2023
  • Six months after they were hired, their performance review echoed that conversation almost word for word.
    — Eli Rubel, CNBC, 18 Aug. 2025

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