as in to delight
to take part in an activity in a superficial way
She dabbled in drawing and painting but sculpture was her favorite medium.
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Recent Examples of dabble
Refn isn’t the only director who’s been dabbling; there’s been a major increase in the number of filmmakers who are exploring AI, and some brought their projects to show to buyers this year.
—
Rebecca Ford, Vanity Fair, 23 May 2026
Blockbusters abound, among a murderers’ row of musical icons, at the Guggenheim’s Pop-art show, and in a movie that sees Steven Spielberg dabbling, once again, in aliens.
—Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 22 May 2026
Still, if men have never dabbled into the makeup world before, knowing where to start can be quite overwhelming—not to mention confusing.
—Christian Allaire, Vogue, 22 May 2026
Toboni grew up in San Francisco as a baseball and basketball player who dabbled with the idea of playing both sports at an Ivy League school.
—Barry Svrluga, New York Times, 21 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for dabble
Rebecca Ford, Vanity Fair, 23 May 2026
Blockbusters abound, among a murderers’ row of musical icons, at the Guggenheim’s Pop-art show, and in a movie that sees Steven Spielberg dabbling, once again, in aliens.
—Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 22 May 2026
Still, if men have never dabbled into the makeup world before, knowing where to start can be quite overwhelming—not to mention confusing.
—Christian Allaire, Vogue, 22 May 2026
Toboni grew up in San Francisco as a baseball and basketball player who dabbled with the idea of playing both sports at an Ivy League school.
—Barry Svrluga, New York Times, 21 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for dabble
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dabble
Verb
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The Tates were delighted by their enforcers.—
Heidi Blake,
New Yorker,
8 June 2026
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There’s nothing that’s mechanized, that isn’t human-driven, which delights me.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
8 June 2026
Verb
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The Mexican national team will kick off the 2026 World Cup against South Africa on Thursday with the weight of entertaining 83,000 at iconic Azteca Stadium and soccer fans around the globe.—
Eduard Cauich,
Los Angeles Times,
11 June 2026
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To start things off, let’s entertain a thought experiment.—
Stefan Szymanski,
The Conversation,
10 June 2026
Verb
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Contrary to some online sentiment, Martinez still fervently believes Portugal are closer to starting a goal up than a man down when playing Ronaldo.—
James Horncastle,
New York Times,
10 June 2026
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Hasley hailed from Pittsburgh and played university football before venturing to Hollywood to pursue his dreams as a writer.—
Clara Harter,
Los Angeles Times,
10 June 2026
Verb
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The process of arranging dinner amused and intimidated me.—
Matthew Kassel,
HollywoodReporter,
13 June 2026
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Reflecting on the viral attention, Moseder remains amused by how a simple mishap captured the attention of millions online.—
Tereza Shkurtaj,
PEOPLE,
13 June 2026
Verb
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Lopez’s lawyer portrayed her as a lifelong victim of abuse who sought to please those around her and who was powerless to stop her boyfriend, Ismael Alvarez, from killing Lopez-Custodio.—
Nate Gartrell,
Mercury News,
10 June 2026
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For family travel and group trips, pleasing everyone can be a challenge.—
Kathleen Wong,
USA Today,
9 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Dabble.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dabble. Accessed 16 Jun. 2026.
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