How to Use leading light in a Sentence

leading light

noun
  • He is one of the leading lights of the labor movement.
  • Lisa Jackson was the leading light in the field, Vitale said.
    Cassie Werber, Quartz at Work, 12 Dec. 2019
  • Lieberman rejects the idea of statehood, as do most of the leading lights within the Likud.
    Gregg Carlstrom, Newsweek, 15 Mar. 2018
  • New Zealand has become a leading light in the struggle against the forces of hate and fear that threaten to pull our world apart.
    Patrick Brzeski, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Aug. 2019
  • City has been a leading light over the past decade, with six championships since 2012, including four of the past five.
    Tariq Panja, New York Times, 6 Feb. 2023
  • Best known for his novels in the ‘80s and ‘90s, the son of Kingsley Amis was a leading light in London’s literary scene.
    Jim Ruland, Los Angeles Times, 10 Mar. 2024
  • To this point, the Democrats’ leading lights have shown little deference to Schultz’s faction.
    Eric Levitz, Daily Intelligencer, 6 June 2018
  • But why didn’t these leading lights raise the alarm about Weinstein sooner?
    Madeleine Kearns, National Review, 3 Mar. 2020
  • The five-piece is a leading light in the wave of young regional Mexican music to blow up TikTok and the Billboard charts.
    August Brown, Los Angeles Times, 12 Nov. 2023
  • The politician, a leading voice for reform in Malaysia and once a leading light in the party that ruled Malaysia until last week's election, was jailed in 2015.
    Euan McKirdy, CNN, 15 May 2018
  • In its earliest incarnation, the group was a leading light of the English blues scene.
    NBC News, 10 June 2018
  • Many of bossa nova’s leading lights were either just writers or just performers; Mr. Lyra was among the few who were both.
    Clay Risen, New York Times, 23 Dec. 2023
  • Some of the planet's most accomplished modders, backed by the leading lights in PC components, use the massive trade show to parade their best work.
    John Burek, PCMAG, 5 June 2023
  • That Flynn — never considered one of the body’s leading lights — now seems its sage statesman is a testament to just how far the council has sunk.
    BostonGlobe.com, 15 July 2023
  • Newspapers emblazon the faces of and headlines about the leading lights all over the front pages, and deliver blanket coverage in the sports sections at the back.
    Martin Rogers, USA TODAY, 7 July 2018
  • There’s not enough space in this column to name and detail the accomplishments of all of them, but here are a few of our region’s leading lights who shined especially bright in 2017.
    Paul Owens, OrlandoSentinel.com, 26 Jan. 2018
  • For decades, Penn has been a leading light in the saltwater reel market, making ultra-durable products to combat the most damage that fish and the elements can dish out.
    Pete Robins, Field & Stream, 3 May 2023
  • But behind the showman’s bravado is a connoisseur of design’s leading lights.
    Erik Maza, Town & Country, 26 Mar. 2019
  • The younger generation includes several leading lights who challenge the idea that the Tory party is a white one.
    The Economist, 7 Oct. 2017
  • Regardless, the mere fact that the party’s leading lights feel compelled to perform this gesture is a testament to the left’s growing strength within Team Blue’s tent.
    Eric Levitz, Daily Intelligencer, 14 Feb. 2018
  • Scoring goals hasn't been too much of an issue, though, with leading light Robert Lewandowski continuing to fire up front; the Pole already on seven strikes for the season.
    SI.com, 20 Sep. 2019
  • In the late 1970s Mueller traded on her midnight-movie stardom to become a leading light of New York’s downtown scene at the height of its polymorphous perversity.
    Negar Azimi, The New York Review of Books, 30 Mar. 2023
  • Olympus, once a leading light in the photography industry, is now joining that list.
    Robert Hackett, Fortune, 24 June 2020
  • Soares has been a leading light for Southampton over the past three seasons but (as a seasoned international) would not be tempted to stick around on the south coast and play in England's second tier.
    SI.com, 26 Apr. 2018
  • Justice Antonin Scalia, one of the movement’s leading lights, was famous for denouncing his colleagues’ work in vivid and personal terms.
    Matt Ford, The New Republic, 10 May 2023
  • Until fairly recently, the leading lights of Europe and America would have agreed.
    Rebecca Burgess and, WSJ, 1 Sep. 2017
  • Many leading lights of midcentury modernism were involved in the project as design consultants or artists.
    Ellen Piligian, Detroit Free Press, 19 Jan. 2020
  • Take the case of Josef and Anni Albers, today considered leading lights of 20th-century modernism.
    Carol Kino, WSJ, 6 Sep. 2017
  • Tushnet is notable as one of the leading lights of the critical legal studies movement (CLS), most known for spawning the sub-field of critical race theory.
    Jeffrey Blehar, National Review, 20 July 2023
  • Chet Holmgren is going to provide good rim protection and Drew Timme's leadership and experience will be a great leading light for this team.
    Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic, 14 Mar. 2022

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