How to Use presence of mind in a Sentence

presence of mind

noun phrase
  • The boy also had the presence of mind to request an ambulance for himself.
    — Jack Guy, CNN Money, 11 Feb. 2026
  • The boy has the presence of mind to seek help from Arabic-language speakers, but these are not so easy to find.
    — Alissa Simon, Variety, 21 Nov. 2025
  • Yamal had Villarreal on strings and the presence of mind to give his mother the match ball at full time.
    — Phil Hay, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
  • But Brown also had the presence of mind to remove bloodied clothing and try to leave the scene without being arrested.
    — Debra J. Saunders, Oc Register, 12 Sep. 2025
  • His build reminds me of Aidan Hutchinson, as did his presence of mind to go for the football on that play and the athleticism to come up with it.
    — Nick Baumgardner, New York Times, 2 Jan. 2026
  • Boozer had the presence of mind, though, to get his own rebound off the block and pass the ball back out to his brother rather than trying to throw up another shot in a hurry.
    — Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 15 Mar. 2026
  • Jordan love kind of rears back, throws it across the field, and Mike Jack had the presence of mind to stay with his guy on that one, and could have come up with a big interception.
    — Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 2 Nov. 2025
  • This conception of dance music as channeling an elevated presence of mind in an unbound flow state (or whatever) is both galaxy-brained and complete nonsense.
    — Harry Tafoya, Pitchfork, 1 May 2026
  • That lesson became the cornerstone of his son’s future practice, where the presence of mind and service remain foundational principles.
    — Connie Etemadi, USA Today, 9 Oct. 2025
  • However, using impressive street smarts and presence of mind, McVey left a trail of evidence behind and convinced Long to release her.
    — Erica Marrison, PEOPLE, 3 Nov. 2025

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