How to Use effigy in a Sentence

effigy

noun
  • Vultures who are killed must be used as effigies to try to scare away others.
    — Mike Cason | [email protected], al, 1 July 2023
  • Others are effigy mounds taking the shapes of birds and bears.
    — Frank Vaisvilas, Journal Sentinel, 14 Oct. 2024
  • There was no villain here, nobody to blame, no need for a scapegoat or an effigy.
    — Rory Smith, New York Times, 12 July 2018
  • Many will stick around to watch an effigy being burned on Monday night.
    — Aliza Chasan, CBS News, 4 Sep. 2023
  • An effigy of the governor was soon hanged on the courthouse lawn.
    — Washington Post, 19 Feb. 2021
  • Saban, in effigy, is frozen in time, affixed to one spot and static.
    — Rainer Sabin, AL.com, 20 Jan. 2018
  • He's posted pictures of an effigy of me hanging and pointing a gun to my head.
    — Richard Schlesinger, CBS News, 1 Jan. 2022
  • The massive effigy was towed around the park in a trailer behind a white pickup truck.
    — Owen Clarke, Outside Online, 17 July 2025
  • May all the worries and problems in your life be burned like the effigy of Ravana.
    — Jamie Ballard, Woman's Day, 29 Aug. 2023
  • An effigy of him was even hung at West Ham United.
    — Tim Spiers, New York Times, 3 June 2026
  • After the effigy was hung from a tree another man came up and cut it down, James said.
    — Rebekah Riess, CNN, 28 May 2020
  • One woman held a cardboard effigy of Snapchat’s mascot, a ghost, with a noose around its neck.
    — Frank Shyong, latimes.com, 30 Apr. 2017
  • Some of the people in line began joking around the effigy, which is as tall as the real Maduro.
    — Michael Rios, CNN Money, 26 Mar. 2026
  • The resident removed the effigy from the tree and called police, the release said.
    — Amanda Jackson, CNN, 18 June 2020
  • The outdoor effigy has been eliciting snickers, sneers — and the ire of politicians, who have called it a stunt.
    — Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press, 10 Oct. 2024
  • But his effigy has yet to appear on the currency of countries that recognize him as the head of state.
    — Annalisa Merelli, Quartz, 5 May 2023
  • The stone effigies and burial vaults tell the story of France’s Kings and Queens.
    — Joseph V Micallef, Forbes.com, 8 July 2025
  • The effigy appeared to be a mannequin’s head, mounted to a stick, and stuck through the links of a chain fence, next to one of her campaign signs.
    — John Hilliard, BostonGlobe.com, 15 Aug. 2023
  • The gathering is highlighted by the burning of a large wooden effigy of a man.
    — Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 1 Sep. 2025
  • In 2017, a man died after running into the flames of the effigy.
    — Robert Alexander, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Sep. 2025
  • But what recurs now is pure linguistic gesture—the second time as empty effigy.
    — Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 9 Apr. 2026
  • The effigy gives a knowing look over the shoulder with a soft smile, a move Diana would do, and was revealed on a deeply poignant date.
    — Janine Henni, PEOPLE, 21 Nov. 2025
  • Some of the reporters detached themselves from Dunn’s crew and went to photograph the effigy.
    — New York Times, 26 Jan. 2021
  • An effigy of the holy virgin anchors an altar to the left of the bar, while a television plays videos of drag performances to the right.
    — Von Diaz, Washington Post, 3 June 2022
  • Two men carried an effigy of Maduro, his eyes blood-red, and his teeth vampiric, wearing a prison jumpsuit with a chain around his neck.
    — Diego Lasarte, New Yorker, 21 Apr. 2026
  • The wooden effigy is burned in a pyrotechnic show on the second-to-last night of the annual festival.
    — Siobhan McAndrew, USA Today, 19 Sep. 2025
  • Pattillo was kicked and beaten, white students burned a black effigy in a vacant lot across from the school, and Ray was pushed down a flight of stairs.
    — Allison Keyes, Smithsonian, 5 Sep. 2017
  • Historic effigy mounds made of soil, some in the shapes of birds and bears, can be found in Cahokia, Illinois, among other sites.
    — Darcel Rockett, chicagotribune.com, 25 Feb. 2021
  • The coin illustrates all 10 beasts side-by-side in one single design with an effigy of the Queen in the center.
    — CNN, 29 Apr. 2021
  • It was staged on the shores of a lake in Tbilisi, and as the effigy’s head tumbled into the flames, the crowd cheered, applauded and chanted.
    — Washington Post, 1 Apr. 2022

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