How to Use at the whim of (someone) in a Sentence

at the whim of (someone)

idiom
  • Someone who only has a single load to wash is at the whim of another person using all the machines.
    Jacobina Martin, Washington Post, 13 Mar. 2024
  • Both of our schedules are at the whim of work that can drag us to the airport or the train station.
    Colin Daileda, Longreads, 24 Mar. 2020
  • Get lucky at the whim of the algorithm — cross your fingers and just upload.
    Danny Garcia, Rolling Stone, 17 Aug. 2022
  • All other rights are at the whim of whoever is running the state.
    Brynn Tannehill, The New Republic, 12 Dec. 2022
  • Will Henriette end up with her true love, or be forced to wed at the whim of her family?
    cleveland, 8 July 2022
  • This could put you at the whim of an erratic attraction.
    Holiday Mathis, Arkansas Online, 15 May 2021
  • The workers said they were taken by bus to Food Lion once a week but to Walmart only once a month, at the whim of their bosses.
    Miriam Jordan, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2020
  • The county is at the whim of the federal government in its quest for more vaccinations.
    Dallas News, 2 Aug. 2022
  • Someone who has only a single load to wash is at the whim of another person using all the machines.
    Judith Martin, The Mercury News, 13 Mar. 2024
  • The firefighters operate at the whim of incident commanders, who can recall them to the line at any time.
    Bruce Selcraig, ExpressNews.com, 3 Oct. 2020
  • Never before in human history has the global economy—and the livelihoods of so many billions—been so at the whim of one man.
    Charlie Campbell, Time, 11 Oct. 2022
  • Tech workers are in high demand, and companies are increasingly at the whim of their desires.
    Arielle Pardes, Wired, 11 Mar. 2022
  • Ignoring their input makes any decisions about hybrid schedules seem arbitrary or at the whim of the leadership team, which will lead to an erosion of trust.
    PCMAG, 19 Dec. 2022
  • Summoning friends and family at the whim of the wedding photographer while everyone else stands around?
    Jacobina Martin, Washington Post, 8 Dec. 2022
  • Those who make money off social media are also at the whim of big platforms and their constantly changing algorithms, forcing them to adapt to what’s popular at the time.
    Rachyl Jones, Fortune, 28 Feb. 2024
  • Outsourcing production to India and China means the U.S. is vulnerable to global catastrophes and at the whim of market forces.
    Allison Pecorin, ABC News, 22 Mar. 2023
  • More than two years after the communist regime pioneered the practice of shutting down entire cities and sadly exported it to the world, the Chinese people are still subject to such measures at the whim of the government.
    James Freeman, WSJ, 27 Apr. 2022
  • But shoppers are largely at the whim of retailers’ voluntary disclosures.
    NBC News, 17 Feb. 2022
  • The team always tried its hardest, always deserved kudos, always was at the whim of a make/miss league, and never had to publicly own its shortcomings in execution or strategy.
    Christopher L. Gasper, BostonGlobe.com, 31 May 2023
  • Until then, a company hit by an antitrust suit was at the whim of a judge who may or may not buy into whatever theory of competition the plaintiff or defendant presents.
    Fortune, 10 Dec. 2020
  • Many in Jordan and the Persian Gulf are starting to rely on a fleet of masked and gloved deliverymen and women working for ride-sharing apps, summoned at the whim of a customer, to complete a transaction without ever meeting the shopper.
    Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 30 June 2020
  • Municipal issuers such as towns and universities are especially likely to do private deals in rocky markets when borrowers and brokers don't want to be at the whim of investors.
    Heather Gillers, WSJ, 26 Oct. 2022
  • Furthermore, gas prices at large are at the whim of an international market that can be disrupted due to economic and geopolitical reasons.
    Nancy Vu, Washington Examiner, 8 Jan. 2024
  • This more flexible funding gives community organizations the power to chart their own paths, rather than be at the whim of funders’ changing priorities.
    Nicole Taylor, Forbes, 25 Apr. 2022
  • How businesses have mishandled layoffs shows that companies are not your family and everyone is disposable at the whim of management.
    Jack Kelly, Forbes, 23 Jan. 2023
  • Such decisions often appear to be taken at the whim of senior officials, with little regard for larger input from other stakeholders, including the public at large.
    Adam Mann, Scientific American, 4 Apr. 2022
  • If these policy changes move forward, prosecutions will no longer be at the whim of commanders and influenced so easily by military politics.
    New York Times, 3 Aug. 2021
  • The lower price, and handful of bids, is an example of the fluctuating world of cryptocurrency, which can be extremely lucrative but is ultimately at the whim of an unregulated market.
    Kate Bennett, CNN, 26 Jan. 2022
  • That the fate of electric vehicles, self-driving cars, public infrastructure projects, global space exploration, the rules of online discourse, and the life and death of military combatants can be altered at the whim of a notoriously whimsical man?
    Will Oremus, Washington Post, 10 Sep. 2023
  • Resurgent protectionism – often imposed at the whim of U.S. presidents – suggests globalization’s golden age has given way to what are perceived as the necessities of great power rivalry.
    Dan Ikenson, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'at the whim of (someone).' 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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