costive

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of costive In fact, their writings are more pungent now that they have been liberated from the costive confines of the movement. Jacob Heilbrunn, The New Republic, 23 Jan. 2020 Movies coiled up in other movies have a habit of becoming either costive or cute, but somehow Falardeau avoids the traps. Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 15 May 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for costive
Adjective
  • Those who are approved must cope with notoriously unreliable in-home nursing, a byproduct of the state’s penurious reimbursement rates.
    Carol Marbin Miller, Miami Herald, 17 Jan. 2025
  • Those who are approved must cope with notoriously unreliable in-home nursing, a byproduct of the state’s penurious reimbursement rates.
    Carol Marbin Miller, Miami Herald, 17 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Perhaps most perplexing about Smash, though, is its weirdly cynical, ungenerous take on the Bombshell herself.
    Greg Evans, Deadline, 10 Apr. 2025
  • Maybe that’s ungenerous, but my patience is running short with Adair.
    Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 24 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • But the iPhone 17 Air’s parsimonious speaker holes might suggest a phone with less capable audio.
    David Phelan, Forbes.com, 27 Apr. 2025
  • Some have felt conflicted, but after decades without success and 14 years of soulless drudgery under Mike Ashley’s parsimonious ownership, many were willing to accept anything for the promise or even just the hope of better times.
    Oliver Kay, The Athletic, 19 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Here's the unvarnished truth: Medicaid's miserly reimbursement rates have driven countless doctors to stop accepting patients in the program.
    Steve Forbes, Forbes.com, 17 Apr. 2025
  • Chrissy made a predictably miserly offer of $230,000, and obviously David did not take it.
    Laura Bradley, Vulture, 25 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Pope in New York slams ‘selfish’ thirst for power and wealth Pope Francis endorses the Iran nuclear deal at U.N., but his focus remains the poor and vulnerable.
    Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 21 Apr. 2025
  • The show previously argued that the answer is no, that some people look for the light, that there can be selflessness in even the most selfish acts carried out at the end of the world.
    Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 21 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Danny is preparing her staff for an imminent natural disaster in this scene, so the tone’s quite serious already, and her opinion of Grey’s seems uncharitable at best.
    Rebecca Luther, TVLine, 3 Apr. 2025
  • An uncharitable interpretation of these findings would conclude that people with fibromyalgia are complainers.
    Peter Ubel, Forbes.com, 26 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Best Luggage and Travel Bags Deals The online retailer wasn’t being stingy with its luggage deals.
    Rylee Johnston, Travel + Leisure, 13 Apr. 2025
  • Seattle is typically stingy with first-round grades, and this may be another year in which the team’s board has maybe a dozen or so prospects with Round 1 grades.
    Michael-Shawn Dugar, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Every year, a complacent, tightfisted city council turned down the recommendations.
    Margaret Talbot, The New Yorker, 2 Oct. 2023
  • Kotick played the tightfisted owner of the Oakland A’s.
    Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 31 May 2023

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Costive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/costive. Accessed 1 May. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!