How to Use celibacy in a Sentence

celibacy

noun
  • The show filmed in the middle of Emanuel’s year of celibacy.
    As Told To Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 12 Dec. 2023
  • That's when Jen surprised Rishi with news of her celibacy change of heart.
    Kelly Wynne, Peoplemag, 24 Feb. 2023
  • In my case, celibacy gives me a chance to explore being on my own.
    Tessa Miller, The Cut, 28 Feb. 2018
  • But the biggest change was the easing of the celibacy requirement.
    Jason Horowitz, New York Times, 26 Oct. 2019
  • The Catholic Church has required celibacy from its priests for centuries.
    Ashley Shaffer, USA TODAY, 7 Oct. 2019
  • Back then, the supreme court had even said that the deity had the right to keep its vow of celibacy under right to privacy.
    Ananya Bhattacharya, Quartz India, 6 June 2019
  • But by the 16th century celibacy was the rule throughout the Roman Catholic Church.
    Francis X. Rocca, WSJ, 17 June 2019
  • Pope Francis said the Catholic Church's thousand-year-old practice of celibacy could be changed.
    Landon Mion, Fox News, 14 Mar. 2023
  • And yet, for Sipe, the condition that fostered the abuse of minors, celibacy, remains in place.
    Dan Rodricks, baltimoresun.com, 25 May 2017
  • Like many on Side B, he’s since been called both a sinner for being gay and a self-hater for choosing celibacy.
    The Salt Lake Tribune, 7 Dec. 2022
  • Crawford doesn’t think there was anything so dramatic as a vow of celibacy, but the effect was much the same.
    Christopher Tayler, Harper’s Magazine , 17 Aug. 2022
  • Will this heartbreak inspire Brad Pitt to renew his vow of celibacy?
    Madeleine Aggeler, The Cut, 14 June 2018
  • The flouting of celibacy vows among African clergy is no secret to the Vatican.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Oct. 2019
  • For example, perhaps the requirement of the celibacy of priests will fall.
    Washington Post, 4 June 2020
  • Release from the obligation of celibacy, which binds most priests and all bishops in the Catholic Church, is a separate step.
    Francis X. Rocca, WSJ, 19 Nov. 2022
  • Chastity, Sister Kate says, is not to be confused with celibacy.
    Corrine Ciani, Rolling Stone, 25 Dec. 2021
  • Technically, as a man of the Catholic church, Wolsey should not have a wife or children in adherence to celibacy.
    Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 9 Nov. 2020
  • Pope Francis says Church's thousand-year practice of celibacy may be changed.
    Fox News Staff, Fox News, 14 Mar. 2023
  • That cannot happen with the continuance of the mandatory vow of celibacy.
    WSJ, 25 Jan. 2019
  • Indeed, the church has tried to keep such children secret for centuries, because of the scandal of priests breaking their vows of celibacy.
    Washington Post, 25 Sep. 2017
  • Other times, it's assumed to be a choice, like abstinence or celibacy.
    Jenna Ryu, USA TODAY, 21 Feb. 2023
  • In the original myth, Medusa is a human woman who takes a vow of celibacy out of devotion to Athena, the goddess of wisdom.
    Selome Hailu, Variety, 27 Dec. 2023
  • Francis has made clear that the ideal of priestly celibacy will remain, but if it can be set aside in one region, that sets a precedent.
    The Economist, 4 Oct. 2019
  • In the book, Sarah argued that lifting the celibacy requirement would not help such areas and instead would deprive them of true priests.
    Washington Post, 12 Jan. 2020
  • The brothers take vows of celibacy, poverty and obedience to the gospel way of life that values simplicity, justice and care for the earth.
    Aisha Salaudeen, Earl Nurse, and Alima Williams, CNN, 21 Nov. 2019
  • The great irony is that these men and women are living out exactly what the church asks of LGBT people -- chastity and celibacy -- and they are not allowed to talk about it.
    Daniel Burke, CNN, 6 July 2017
  • Later, his route to self-acceptance came through celibacy.
    Hugh Morris, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2023
  • There is nothing wrong with choosing celibacy or living a celibate life.
    Amy Dickinson, Detroit Free Press, 24 Feb. 2020
  • Inspired by a Seinfeld episode of all things, this British reality series features 10 horny singles maintaining celibacy for four weeks in hopes of winning a cash prize.
    Rendy Jones, EW.com, 13 July 2024
  • And Bumble’s efforts to bring more users to the hive (i.e not just millennial women) hasn’t gone so well — a lot of people were pretty offended by the company’s splashy ads mocking celibacy earlier this year.
    Morgan Haefner, Quartz, 11 July 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'celibacy.' 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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