How to Use counterpoint in a Sentence

counterpoint

1 of 2 noun

• The music works in counterpoint to the images on the screen.
• The guitar and bass are played in counterpoint.
• The dressing is a refreshing counterpoint to the spicy chicken.
• The painting is a pleasant counterpoint to his earlier works.
• The Surya jute rug offers a counterpoint to the turquoise all around.
  — Ryan Conner, Dallas News, 27 Apr. 2023
• This room's light wood walls act as the perfect counterpoint to the dark bunk bed frame.
  — Mariah Thomas, Good Housekeeping, 1 May 2022
• The rug helps add a neutral counterpoint to the bold color.
  — Hadley Mendelsohn, House Beautiful, 23 June 2022
• The tang of the lemon plays a soaring counterpoint to what many people (not me) think of as the gaminess of lamb.
  — Tribune News Service, cleveland, 9 May 2022
• Try a dollop of sour cream or crème fraiche on top for a cool, silky counterpoint.
  — Southern Living Test Kitchen, Southern Living, 1 Dec. 2023
• But the rest of the year was explicitly designed to be a counterpoint to that for the Hewson clan.
  — Alex Morris, Rolling Stone, 18 Sep. 2023
• The rats, who had drowned in a rainstorm, lay in artful counterpoint, as though posing for a still-life.
  — Morgan Meis, The New Yorker, 28 Feb. 2023
• Here’s a counterpoint: Who’s cares who the Vikings start at quarterback?
  — Dane Mizutani, Twin Cities, 2 Jan. 2024
• Patrick Somerville, the show’s creator, saw the story as a necessary counterpoint to all the doom and mayhem.
  — Steve Dollar, Los Angeles Times, 14 June 2022
• But while many have proven to be worthwhile, a true counterpoint to college-for-all never gets to scale.
  — Rick Wartzman, Fortune, 14 Dec. 2023
• The choice of lead-in music is a nice counterpoint to the high-volume proceedings that follow.
  — Matthias Clamer, SPIN, 7 Aug. 2022
• But the counterpoint is this: Bochy’s got a background in what a productive farm system looks like.
  — Dallas News, 4 Mar. 2023
• And the moody palette of the master bedroom (top) offers a counterpoint to the brighter, more public spaces.
  — Mackenzie Schmidt, Peoplemag, 2 Aug. 2023
• The primary colors here are white and gray, which offer a pleasing counterpoint to the red oak floor.
  — John R. Ellement, BostonGlobe.com, 5 July 2023
• Mains like eggplant parmigiana, grilled striped bass, and hanger steak provide a counterpoint to all the carbs.
  — Tori Latham, Robb Report, 22 Mar. 2023
• To me, this salad is a master class in balance; the curly leafy greens are a great counterpoint to the crispy buttermilk chicken.
  — Bon Appétit Contributor, Bon Appétit, 16 Dec. 2023
• The goal was to offer a counterpoint to rich, heavy, holiday-season food.
  — Ellie Pithers, New York Times, 15 Feb. 2024
• The counterpoint to that argument is the success Mixon had against Carolina isn’t all that long ago.
  — Michael Niziolek, cleveland, 9 Dec. 2022
• The silver leek provided the perfect counterpoint to the Princess of Wales’s bold ensemble, which was finished with black leather gloves and a black hat.
  — Stephanie Bridger-Linning, Glamour, 1 Mar. 2023
• That’s a stark, painful statement, and though the movie scrambles for a happy ending, Mo’s observation hangs in the air like a counterpoint.
  — Time, 20 Jan. 2023
• The former pairs well with layered knits and flat boots; the latter, which ideally has more give, can be a nice counterpoint to a more fitted top.
  — Fiorella Valdesolo, WSJ, 2 Sep. 2022
• Sweet currants or raisins balance the flavors out with a bit of sweetness, and the bread itself makes a bright, flavorful counterpoint to a heavy stew.
  — Kate Merker, Country Living, 15 Feb. 2023
• As the metronomes begin to stop ticking and the texture thins out, the ear begins to recognize rhythms in counterpoint with one another.
  — David Weininger, BostonGlobe.com, 22 Feb. 2023
• The remoteness of the stony lunar surface stands in visual counterpoint to the soft, tactile touch of pencil pressed to paper.
  — Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2022
• The signers pushed back on Jassy’s claims presenting six counterpoints.
  — Chloe Berger, Fortune, 28 Feb. 2023
• At one point on Sunday, a few birds made themselves at home inside the Shed, layering their own counterpoint.
  — Jeremy Eichler, BostonGlobe.com, 11 July 2022

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counterpoint

2 of 2 verb

• The violence of the movie is counterpointed by ironic humor.
• Carolyn Holland, Ecotrust's vice president for communications, would not say what counterpoints the group has about the state's plan to claw back part of the tax credit.
  — Hillary Borrud, OregonLive.com, 11 May 2018
• Heads are often presented in the lower half of the image, counterpointed with open space (where God resides?) and the details of the confining environments in which their lives play out.
  — Neil Young, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Oct. 2017
• But the high adventure is counterpointed at every turn by self-conscious humor.
  — Steve Stern, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2017
• Traffic on the adjacent road, jets rumbling overhead, clicking spokes of passing bicycles, the frictive thrum of a skateboard, the crunch of your own footsteps — all shift from background noise to counterpoint for the tones emanating from above.
  — Leah Ollman, latimes.com, 23 Aug. 2017
• The smartest touch is counterpointing the pair’s bickering with the idealized representation of American life presented by a scatting jazz trio, who comment on the action like a Greek chorus of ’50s hepcats.
  — John Von Rhein, chicagotribune.com, 11 Mar. 2018
• Arendt’s sheer delight in intellectual speculation counterpoints her intense ethical commitment to thinking as a form of political engagement.
  — George Prochnik, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2018
• The violence of the movie is counterpointed by ironic humor.
• Carolyn Holland, Ecotrust's vice president for communications, would not say what counterpoints the group has about the state's plan to claw back part of the tax credit.
  — Hillary Borrud, OregonLive.com, 11 May 2018
• Heads are often presented in the lower half of the image, counterpointed with open space (where God resides?) and the details of the confining environments in which their lives play out.
  — Neil Young, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Oct. 2017
• But the high adventure is counterpointed at every turn by self-conscious humor.
  — Steve Stern, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2017
• Traffic on the adjacent road, jets rumbling overhead, clicking spokes of passing bicycles, the frictive thrum of a skateboard, the crunch of your own footsteps — all shift from background noise to counterpoint for the tones emanating from above.
  — Leah Ollman, latimes.com, 23 Aug. 2017
• The smartest touch is counterpointing the pair’s bickering with the idealized representation of American life presented by a scatting jazz trio, who comment on the action like a Greek chorus of ’50s hepcats.
  — John Von Rhein, chicagotribune.com, 11 Mar. 2018
• Arendt’s sheer delight in intellectual speculation counterpoints her intense ethical commitment to thinking as a form of political engagement.
  — George Prochnik, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2018

Last Updated: 5 Sep 2024