How to Use principal in a Sentence

principal

1 of 2 adjective
  • She is the principal cellist of the orchestra.
  • Vegetables are the principal ingredients in this soup.
  • Next, Adam James Phillips, the principal hair stylist for the show, would set and dress the wig with the help of the full team.
    Hannah Morrill, Marie Claire, 12 Jan. 2021
  • The principal grape of Lavaux and of the Vaud as a whole is Chasselas.
    Ray Isle, Smithsonian, 23 May 2018
  • Laya is one of the principal way stations along the Snowman Trek.
    Chris Jones, WSJ, 4 Feb. 2020
  • The principal odor map, as the team called it, is unprecedented for the sense of smell.
    IEEE Spectrum, 4 Sep. 2023
  • Principal horn Jonathan Boen, for whom it was written, was the soloist.
    John Von Rhein, chicagotribune.com, 12 Aug. 2017
  • Statutes said that the principal deputy would become the acting DNI.
    CBS News, 14 Feb. 2020
  • Charles Johnson is the principal owner, with a stake of about 26%.
    Scott Ostler, SFChronicle.com, 7 Nov. 2020
  • If the interest is not paid, it’s added to the loan’s principal balance.
    Tara Siegel Bernard, New York Times, 1 June 2023
  • There are no principal payments for the first two years of the loan and no interest payments for the first year.
    Christopher Rugaber, chicagotribune.com, 30 Oct. 2020
  • The first day was all the principal actors, the writers and the entire production team with the scripts and reading.
    Charles Curtis, For The Win, 11 May 2018
  • Your payment amount and terms will be completely new and based on the new principal amount.
    Paco De Leon, refinery29.com, 4 Jan. 2022
  • The principal argument against the plan was that boosting state taxes solely on the wealthy would prompt them to flee the state.
    Keith M. Phaneuf, Hartford Courant, 6 Oct. 2022
  • This determines how much the loan will cost you in addition to the principal amount.
    Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2022
  • His daughter, Camille, 27, is one of its principal dancers.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Sep. 2019
  • Anne Schuchat, the principal deputy director of 30-plus years.
    Lev Facher, STAT, 10 Nov. 2021
  • Both of those shots were not part of the principal photography.
    Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 1 July 2022
  • At the principal’s office, she was told that the child’s hair was too long and in violation of the district’s dress code.
    Paula Rogo, Essence, 15 Sep. 2019
  • That’s a reality that has dawned on some of the principal actors at Bucharest in 2008.
    Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 10 July 2023
  • Murder is not its principal subject, nor is the mind of the serial killer.
    Josephine Livingstone, New Republic, 31 Oct. 2017
  • From the start of the film, the principal characters recoil from one another.
    J.r. Jones, Chicago Reader, 1 Mar. 2018
  • The class is taught by former principal dancer, Zack Grubbs, who was bullied as a young male dancer.
    Briana Rice, Cincinnati.com, 27 Aug. 2019
  • The bankruptcy judge said one of the company’s principal assets is in Texas, making the state at least one of the proper venues for the case.
    Alexander Gladstone, WSJ, 8 Dec. 2023
  • The kitchen retains marble details from when the space was the mansion’s principal bathroom.
    Julie Lasky, ELLE Decor, 22 Mar. 2023
  • But there is at least one principal thing, which is common for all of us: Our nation became stronger.
    Alexander Motyl, The Conversation, 8 Apr. 2022
  • There are eight principal characters; each gets a full character arc over the course of the story.
    Marcus Crowder, San Francisco Chronicle, 10 Apr. 2018
  • Justin Bestor will take on an associate principal role at the high school.
    Alec Johnson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 17 May 2018
  • One of the principal non-canine characters turns out to be from Cincinnati.
    Carl Weiser, Cincinnati.com, 9 Apr. 2018
  • For 15 years, Chicago has tried and failed to win a federal grant to rebuild the principal dock at its main Lake Michigan port.
    Chicago Tribune Staff, Chicago Tribune, 28 Aug. 2023
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principal

2 of 2 noun
  • One of the principals in the assassination plot has been arrested.
  • Dunlap runs the class with the ease of the son of a principal.
    Paul Dehner Jr., Cincinnati.com, 29 Oct. 2017
  • The principal slammed the door to keep the bear out of the school, which was in session.
    Mark Thiessen, Anchorage Daily News, 7 Feb. 2023
  • The principal said the cooking club tried out the recipe last week.
    Kristen Griffith, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 10 Nov. 2020
  • The principal of the high school had been a student there in the early years of the race.
    Devin Kelly, Longreads, 19 Jan. 2022
  • Then the loudspeaker crackles and the voice of the principal fills the room.
    TIME.com, 6 Mar. 2018
  • The principal knock against D’Amaro might be through no fault of his own.
    Paolo Confino, Fortune, 2 Apr. 2024
  • As the case went to a grand jury, none of the principals made a statement.
    Paula Allen, ExpressNews.com, 9 Nov. 2019
  • And the next day, [my grandmother] walks with me to class and talks to the principal.
    NBC News, 2 Mar. 2020
  • Her parents had to work with the principal and teachers to change the name in the system.
    Samantha Schmidt, Washington Post, 16 Mar. 2021
  • Hogue, who was speaking to the board for the first time as principal, was hired in May and started the job Aug. 1.
    Ed Wittenberg, cleveland, 28 Aug. 2023
  • This year, he was hired as the principal of a public school.
    Joseph Coleman, New York Times, 12 Dec. 2022
  • The principal there did not respond to emails sent on June 4.
    Mackensy Lunsford, USA TODAY, 5 June 2020
  • This is a film in which the principals seem to control the flow of information and the tone.
    Chris Vognar, Rolling Stone, 15 Nov. 2023
  • His father’s son — the son of an art-school principal — Paul was a painter.
    Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 23 Jan. 2023
  • Payan said he was informed the same day by the principal that his son was the victim of the attack.
    Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2023
  • The father left with the girl, then returned to confront the principal.
    Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2021
  • The principal would only say that the school had done nothing wrong.
    Abigail Kramer, ProPublica, 4 May 2023
  • The principal said the student had also made threats the day before.
    Bianca Padró Ocasio, OrlandoSentinel.com, 16 Feb. 2018
  • This was for the entire school, and my coach and principal, and all my friends at home rooting for me.
    Jason McDaniel, Houston Chronicle, 30 June 2018
  • Ohio is one of the states where a teacher can bring a gun to school with the approval of a principal or district.
    NBC News, 19 June 2018
  • Even a sharp word can fuel a complaint to the school principal.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Oct. 2019
  • That’s because the principals have been able to avoid talking about it for more than a decade.
    Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel, Twin Cities, 11 July 2019
  • But Dannaoui said the school principal told her that teacher wouldn't do this to a child.
    Aleanna Siacon, Detroit Free Press, 23 Apr. 2018
  • The father was told this and left, but returned later to speak with the principal.
    Arkansas Online, 22 Aug. 2021
  • Julie Craven, the school principal, is working to break out of such cycles.
    BostonGlobe.com, 12 Apr. 2021
  • What would cite as the principal sources of inspiration on the movie?
    Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader, 10 May 2018
  • By the end of your loan, more of your monthly payment goes toward the principal.
    Elizabeth Rivelli, Car and Driver, 30 Jan. 2023
  • If your coach insists on this shaving rule, take it to the principal.
    Amy Dickinson, The Denver Post, 10 Mar. 2020
  • His son had even been asked by his principal to create a fresco at the entrance of the school.
    New York Times, 3 June 2022

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