How to Use at cross-purposes in a Sentence
at cross-purposes
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There’s no good way to balance those things that are at cross-purposes.
—Star Tribune, 2 Oct. 2020
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Keep your thoughts on your breathing so your mind doesn't work at cross-purposes.
—Jelena Kecmanovic, CNN, 19 Dec. 2021
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Plot and character work at cross-purposes in a story like this one.
—Willing Davidson, The New Yorker, 30 May 2022
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The groups, which appear to be unconnected, seem to have been at cross-purposes.
—Lily Hay Newman, Wired, 21 Apr. 2021
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Over the last year, the Fed’s duties as an inflation fighter and a bank regulator have been at cross-purposes.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2023
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And in many states agriculture and wildlife agencies appear to work at cross-purposes and have poor collaboration.
—Paul A. Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3 Oct. 2021
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Added difficulty stems from the fact that typical solutions for them can work at cross-purposes.
—Erika Page, The Christian Science Monitor, 16 Mar. 2023
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And for that there may need to be a cultivation of traits, tendencies, and dispositions, which are at cross-purposes which our selfish natures.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 25 July 2012
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Shree sets out to explore how Ma’s muteness brings out the best and worst in her kin, among whom there are constant exchanges at cross-purposes but few scenes of direct, meaningful conversation.
—Anjum Hasan, The New York Review of Books, 2 Mar. 2023
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Yet the state treasury is working at cross-purposes with over $1 billion invested in the coal industry alone, Divest Oregon said in its report.
—From Usa Today Network and Wire Reports, USA TODAY, 21 Apr. 2022
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Trump, who is often at cross-purposes with McConnell, has appeared especially engaged in the Arizona and Georgia races, largely because of his own narrow losses there.
—BostonGlobe.com, 18 July 2021
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That will keep inflation high which, in turn, will cause the Bank of England to keep working at cross-purposes with the new prime minister by jacking up interest rates to tame inflation by slowing the same economy that Liz Truss is trying to grow.
—WSJ, 25 Sep. 2022
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But over the past four years, the White House never delineated clear, cohesive goals for economic policy in Asia, often taking measures at cross-purposes with each other.
—The Editors, National Review, 18 Nov. 2020
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As a result, teams occasionally worked at cross-purposes.
—Lila MacLellan, Fortune, 1 Nov. 2022
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Sometimes government agencies have worked at cross-purposes.
—al, 6 Sep. 2022
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That leaves Trump at cross-purposes with the Republican Governors Association, which backs its incumbents and is being forced to spend millions to shore up some of them against intraparty attacks.
—Jonathan Karl, ABC News, 8 Apr. 2022
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But even if such 'cultural group selection' is possible, that does not negate the power of kin, as well as other 'lower level' dynamics which may operate at cross-purposes with organismic social units.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 14 June 2011
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Unlike the book, in which all the assassins who find themselves at cross-purposes on the Tokyo-to-Kyoto bullet train are Japanese, most of the principal characters have had an international makeover, raising online objections to whitewashing.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Aug. 2022
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The religious network sometimes acted independently or even at cross-purposes with the government.
—Tim Golden, ProPublica, 27 Apr. 2023
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Working at cross-purposes sometimes yields surprising delights.
—Christian MacDonald, Vogue, 29 Apr. 2022
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Fierce competitors before Signet acquired Zales in 2014, these two brands have largely operated at cross-purposes until recently.
—Pamela N. Danziger, Forbes, 20 June 2021
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That tension sometimes puts people like Burke at cross-purposes with scientists like Katherine Holmes, who believes figs should be eradicated from vulnerable riparian corridors.
—Jacob Roberts, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 Feb. 2022
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'at cross-purposes.' 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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