How to Use gentile in a Sentence
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The gentile who lived there now gave him two silver candlesticks wrapped in a napkin.
—Emily Meg Weinstein, Longreads, 19 Dec. 2017
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After finding a new job abroad, Xaver, a gentile, fell in love with Dina, the 17-year-old Catholic-Jewish daughter of his boss.
—Grace Browne, Wired, 3 Jan. 2022
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Yiddish has the phrase shanda fur die goyim to describe a Jew who misbehaves in places and ways that gentiles can see.
—Jamie Lauren Keiles, Vox, 5 Dec. 2018
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If a film called for a Jewish character, a gentile would almost reflexively get cast in that role.
—David Oliver, USA TODAY, 17 Aug. 2023
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In contemporary times, the Chief Rabbinate in Israel sells the land to a gentile, which allows Jews to continue sowing and planting.
—Rabbi Avi Weiss, sun-sentinel.com, 3 May 2021
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Because of Easter, the gentiles, too, could be embraced in a relationship—a covenant—with the one God, which was embodied in righteous living.
—George Weigel, WSJ, 30 Mar. 2018
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Young, old, black, white, Jew, gentile, people from political groups of all stripes, including Trotskyites and other fringe figures as well as more mainstream groups.
—Randy Dotinga, The Christian Science Monitor, 16 Aug. 2017
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For all his hatred of parochial moralizing—a constant theme in his work, whether the preaching came from Jews or gentiles, liberals or conservatives—Roth was himself a kind of moralist.
—Adam Kirsch, The Atlantic, 23 May 2018
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On its first weekend in business, the clientele included a mix of Jews, gentiles, individuals with special needs and those without special needs.
—Jeff Rumage, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 24 Dec. 2019
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The group, consisting by chance of three Jews (one of whom marries a gentile) and three gentiles (one of whom marries a Jew), inevitably falls victim to the antisemitic restrictions of National Socialism.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 13 Nov. 2023
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Intensely private behind their walls of privet, genteel and yes, primarily gentile, the club system continues to thrive in the Hamptons, in spite of the headwinds of social change or supposed dearth of clubbable types.
—Steven Stolman, Town & Country, 13 June 2018
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In contrast to most overtly Jewish comedy, which usually compares Jews and gentiles, most of his material juxtaposes the frum and not frum.
—Jason Zinoman, New York Times, 13 June 2018
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Fundamentalists preferred a separatist approach: The gospel of Christ crucified is foolishness to the gentiles.
—Sarah Jones, New Republic, 22 Feb. 2018
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Some compositions had been smuggled to sympathetic gentiles outside the camp; others had been secreted under floorboards and behind walls.
—Douglas Starr, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Aug. 2023
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In one sense Sebald’s use and depiction of repetition are historically specific, a German gentile’s reckoning with the legacy of the Holocaust.
—Ben Lerner, The New York Review of Books, 25 Feb. 2021
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His father, Herman, was an insurance manager for Metropolitan Life who felt that his career had been thwarted by the gentile executives who ran the company.
—Charles McGrath, BostonGlobe.com, 23 May 2018
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When a gentile plays a Jew, the results are often more affected, the mannerisms pronounced, which can often mean the difference between someone playing Jewish vs. inhabiting a Jewish character.
—New York Times, 17 Feb. 2022
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An ecumenical streak is evident, too, particularly in the uproarious story the comic tells about his family yielding one December to the prevailing American custom and staging a full-out Christmas for a grieving gentile friend.
—Peter Marks, Washington Post, 27 June 2023
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The gentile who lived there now gave him two silver candlesticks wrapped in a napkin.
—Emily Meg Weinstein, Longreads, 19 Dec. 2017
-
After finding a new job abroad, Xaver, a gentile, fell in love with Dina, the 17-year-old Catholic-Jewish daughter of his boss.
—Grace Browne, Wired, 3 Jan. 2022
-
Yiddish has the phrase shanda fur die goyim to describe a Jew who misbehaves in places and ways that gentiles can see.
—Jamie Lauren Keiles, Vox, 5 Dec. 2018
-
If a film called for a Jewish character, a gentile would almost reflexively get cast in that role.
—David Oliver, USA TODAY, 17 Aug. 2023
-
In contemporary times, the Chief Rabbinate in Israel sells the land to a gentile, which allows Jews to continue sowing and planting.
—Rabbi Avi Weiss, sun-sentinel.com, 3 May 2021
-
Because of Easter, the gentiles, too, could be embraced in a relationship—a covenant—with the one God, which was embodied in righteous living.
—George Weigel, WSJ, 30 Mar. 2018
-
Young, old, black, white, Jew, gentile, people from political groups of all stripes, including Trotskyites and other fringe figures as well as more mainstream groups.
—Randy Dotinga, The Christian Science Monitor, 16 Aug. 2017
-
For all his hatred of parochial moralizing—a constant theme in his work, whether the preaching came from Jews or gentiles, liberals or conservatives—Roth was himself a kind of moralist.
—Adam Kirsch, The Atlantic, 23 May 2018
-
On its first weekend in business, the clientele included a mix of Jews, gentiles, individuals with special needs and those without special needs.
—Jeff Rumage, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 24 Dec. 2019
-
The group, consisting by chance of three Jews (one of whom marries a gentile) and three gentiles (one of whom marries a Jew), inevitably falls victim to the antisemitic restrictions of National Socialism.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 13 Nov. 2023
-
Intensely private behind their walls of privet, genteel and yes, primarily gentile, the club system continues to thrive in the Hamptons, in spite of the headwinds of social change or supposed dearth of clubbable types.
—Steven Stolman, Town & Country, 13 June 2018
-
In contrast to most overtly Jewish comedy, which usually compares Jews and gentiles, most of his material juxtaposes the frum and not frum.
—Jason Zinoman, New York Times, 13 June 2018
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Here and there it was relieved by the heroic efforts of Lotar, hiding in Prague, and his gentile wife, Zdenka.
—New York Times, 28 Mar. 2020
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After the birth, her father, the son of a well-to-do Krakow family that ran a leather business, made arrangements for his infant daughter to be cared for by gentile friends, the Sendlers.
—Bart Barnes, BostonGlobe.com, 13 July 2019
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Three of the Comedian Harmonists were Jewish, three were gentile.
—Dana Bash and Abbie Sharpe, CNN, 15 Apr. 2022
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The diary had been rescued by a gentile friend, who gave it to Otto Frank after he was liberated from Auschwitz and returned to the Netherlands to search for his wife and two daughters.
—Sandi Dolbee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Sep. 2022
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In short the Gaon of Vilna is rightly a marginal figure from a gentile perspective, no matter his parochial brilliance.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 29 Jan. 2013
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What’s striking about this influx of Jewish characters is that only one kind was allowed: A male stand-up with a gentile love interest.
—New York Times, 17 Feb. 2022
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Apparently tipped off to their presence, the Germans raided the school in 1943 on the Christian feast of Pentecost, when gentile students were likely to be home with their families.
—Emily Langer, Washington Post, 16 June 2022
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But when its young protagonist, Sammy Fabelman, moves to California in the 1960s, he’s confronted with Aryan boys who mock his religion and with gentile girls intrigued by it.
—Jason Zinoman, New York Times, 9 Dec. 2022
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Another retold accounts of Jewish blood libel, myths of Jews using the blood of gentile children in sacrifice rituals, in medieval Russian villages.
—Jacob Bogage, Washington Post, 22 May 2017
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Hoffman’s Shylock, in a 1989 Broadway production, was a cunning victim, literally spat upon by virtually every gentile character in the play.
—Washington Post, 3 Mar. 2022
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On her podcast, Sarah Silverman has spoken passionately about how Jewish characters are regularly played by gentile actors, specifically lamenting the lack of meaty roles for women.
—New York Times, 17 Feb. 2022
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Here and there it was relieved by the heroic efforts of Lotar, hiding in Prague, and his gentile wife, Zdenka.
—New York Times, 28 Mar. 2020
-
After the birth, her father, the son of a well-to-do Krakow family that ran a leather business, made arrangements for his infant daughter to be cared for by gentile friends, the Sendlers.
—Bart Barnes, BostonGlobe.com, 13 July 2019
-
Three of the Comedian Harmonists were Jewish, three were gentile.
—Dana Bash and Abbie Sharpe, CNN, 15 Apr. 2022
-
The diary had been rescued by a gentile friend, who gave it to Otto Frank after he was liberated from Auschwitz and returned to the Netherlands to search for his wife and two daughters.
—Sandi Dolbee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Sep. 2022
-
In short the Gaon of Vilna is rightly a marginal figure from a gentile perspective, no matter his parochial brilliance.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 29 Jan. 2013
-
What’s striking about this influx of Jewish characters is that only one kind was allowed: A male stand-up with a gentile love interest.
—New York Times, 17 Feb. 2022
-
Apparently tipped off to their presence, the Germans raided the school in 1943 on the Christian feast of Pentecost, when gentile students were likely to be home with their families.
—Emily Langer, Washington Post, 16 June 2022
-
But when its young protagonist, Sammy Fabelman, moves to California in the 1960s, he’s confronted with Aryan boys who mock his religion and with gentile girls intrigued by it.
—Jason Zinoman, New York Times, 9 Dec. 2022
-
Another retold accounts of Jewish blood libel, myths of Jews using the blood of gentile children in sacrifice rituals, in medieval Russian villages.
—Jacob Bogage, Washington Post, 22 May 2017
-
Hoffman’s Shylock, in a 1989 Broadway production, was a cunning victim, literally spat upon by virtually every gentile character in the play.
—Washington Post, 3 Mar. 2022
-
On her podcast, Sarah Silverman has spoken passionately about how Jewish characters are regularly played by gentile actors, specifically lamenting the lack of meaty roles for women.
—New York Times, 17 Feb. 2022
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gentile.' 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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