cherry-pick

verb

cher·​ry-pick ˈcher-ē-ˌpik 

cherry-picked; cherry-picking; cherry-picks

intransitive verb

: to select the best or most desirable

transitive verb

: to select as being the best or most desirable

also : to select the best or most desirable from

cherry-picked the art collection

Synonyms

• choose
• cull
• elect
• handpick
• name
• opt (for)
• pick
• prefer
• select
• single (out)
• tag
• take

Examples of cherry-pick in a Sentence

cherry-picked the spacious corner office for his corporate fief

Recent Examples on the Web

Mid-major colleges will never keep their teams together and the big schools will cherry-pick the best players. —Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2025

And what’s equally disturbing is that the decision endorses a movement that cherry-picks data and misunderstands the nature of scientific research and the nature of risk. —Megha Satyanarayana, Scientific American, 4 Apr. 2025

Critics of the program, which essentially privatizes Medicare, point to insurance companies cherry-picking enrollees who are younger and healthier and overcharging the program for treatment. —Selena Simmons-Duffin, NPR, 25 Mar. 2025

Fire and emergency officials have criticized the findings, saying the report cherry-picked worst-case scenarios and projected unrealistic and catastrophic fire and traffic conditions. —Calmatters, The Mercury News, 20 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1965, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense