How to Use edifying in a Sentence

edifying

adjective
  • With time, a breakup can become an edifying event in one’s life.
    — Paula Mejía, The Atlantic, 3 May 2026
  • That leap into truth was very edifying for me.
    — Carita Rizzo, Deadline, 15 June 2026
  • Taking that leap into truth was very edifying for me.
    — Carita Rizzo, Deadline, 15 June 2026
  • There are of course other edifying things.
    — Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 26 June 2026
  • And the most edifying source to hear that from is another sister.
    — Ramona Saviss, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Mar. 2018
  • But what does-though a thousand times more generous-isn't a whole lot more edifying.
    — Tony Adler, Chicago Reader, 2 July 2018
  • But in this particular moment, there are far better and more edifying ways to waste five hours.
    — Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 28 Nov. 2019
  • The process by which that happens, however, is unlikely to be an edifying one.
    — Noah Feldman, Mercury News, 9 June 2026
  • Evans’s pictures of a bygone era offer an edifying measure of our own cultural progress.
    — Philip Gefter, New York Times, 15 Mar. 2016
  • Sometimes, what the previous owners have scribbled in the margins is at least as edifying as what the authors have to say.
    — Danny Heitman, The Christian Science Monitor, 17 Jan. 2022
  • Some are more edifying than practical; a few deliver on pleasure and technique in equal measure.
    — Hannah Goldfield, New Yorker, 20 Dec. 2025
  • Now that books are considered virtuous and edifying, moralists can’t persuade anyone to pick one up.
    — Adam Kirsch, The Atlantic, 2 Jan. 2026
  • As most sightseers to the real Sistine Chapel know, the visit isn’t always edifying.
    — Elisabetta Povoledo, New York Times, 12 Mar. 2018
  • One of the most edifying and delicious guides is Culinary Backstreets, which offers tours in more than a dozen markets.
    — Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 27 Nov. 2019
  • Trading in this quarter started in the late 1800s, and to this day boasts edifying buildings done in raw stone Qatari style.
    — Condé Nast Traveler, 17 Feb. 2026
  • But those who do seek out ‘Stuck Rubber Baby’ are in for an edifying experience.
    — Harrison Smith, Washington Post, 4 Dec. 2019
  • There are few days that pass when we are not reminded of technology’s power to change the world, a prospect that is sometimes frightening, but more often edifying.
    — Martin Boyd, Forbes, 25 July 2022
  • In this way, Richard Jewell brings edifying contrast to the current impeachment show trials.
    — Armond White, National Review, 13 Dec. 2019
  • Sure, race is always relevant, and stories that use it as a prism are largely edifying, giving dimension to the figures in our history books.
    — New York Times, 12 Apr. 2022
  • At the same time, monitoring the human face through technology has become the default mode of public encounter in less edifying ways.
    — Paul Elie, The New Yorker, 4 May 2021
  • His challenge was to examine our own hearts and motives, to have honest and edifying conversations, to trust the holy spirit to enable change and to not fuel the wrong fire.
    — Alyssa Alfano, cleveland, 19 Jan. 2021
  • People are too interested in anything that is not uplifting, edifying.
    — Howard Koplowitz | [email protected], al.com, 15 July 2019
  • But try to also be the person who sets in motion the situations and events that will be impactful, memorable and edifying in every way, as much for the body and mind as for the soul.
    — Michael Austin, chicagotribune.com, 14 Mar. 2018
  • For introverts with an extrovert career, news conferences are not edifying.
    — Los Angeles Times, 2 June 2021
  • For two decades, this edifying A&E docuseries has been lifting the veil of investigative work during that critical time frame.
    — James Mercadante, Entertainment Weekly, 4 Jan. 2026
  • The important points are all underscored in an edifying drama that nevertheless feels burdened by good intentions.
    — Washington Post, 7 Oct. 2021
  • The idea that art is edifying, educational and generally good for us is a form of contemporary cant that has lately — and lamentably — overtaken other ideas of what art might be.
    — Washington Post, 4 Nov. 2020
  • But no amount of prompting seemed able to change ChatGPT’s idea that a story must be edifying, containing a clear moral lesson.
    — Adam Kirsch, The Atlantic, 15 June 2026
  • Walker’s edifying biography deconstructs the legendary composer’s life and works with zeal.
    — Washington Post, 21 Nov. 2019
  • Usually, my friends, over my objections, preferred this to playing ball—or to other popular, if less edifying, neighborhood pursuits, such as tearing hood ornaments off parked cars.
    — Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 14 May 2018

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