How to Use symbolic in a Sentence

symbolic

adjective

• The lighting of the candles is symbolic.
• The sharing of the wine has symbolic meaning.
• A lot of the strikes in the past 20 years have been symbolic more than strategic.
  — Emmett Lindner, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2023
• Zoom out: This is the Year of the Snake, which is itself symbolic.
  — Carly Mallenbaum, Axios, 28 Jan. 2025
• One horn, to me, is symbolic of the split half — like the trapeze, maybe one side weighs more than the other.
  — Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug. 2022
• The scene with the needle, which goes deep into the vein, was very symbolic.
  — Holly Jones, Variety, 19 Feb. 2024
• For Yang, at least, the drop in pay is largely symbolic.
  — Lionel Lim, Fortune, 14 Dec. 2023
• All sorts of things are thrown into the fires, like wood, leaves and food, in a symbolic purge of evil and triumph of good.
  — Hari Kumar, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2024
• And the campaign sees it as symbolic of the good a president can do.
  — Mike Allen, Axios, 29 Oct. 2024
• Today the role of the Maori monarch is largely symbolic.
  — Rachel Treisman, NPR, 5 Sep. 2024
• Its colors of red, black, and green are symbolic of the Pan-African movement.
  — Taylor Crumpton, Essence, 19 June 2024
• At what point in your work did that hit you that this anecdote is so symbolic of his life?
  — Brendan O'Meara, Longreads, 20 June 2022
• In the art world, cherries are symbolic of wealth and decadence.
  — Esther Newman, refinery29.com, 6 Sep. 2024
• The awards feel symbolic, not only of his success as an artist, but as a son.
  — Mitchell Kuga, Billboard, 9 June 2023
• The job is just to be a symbolic representation of the UK.
  — Elizabeth Lopatto, The Verge, 13 Mar. 2024
• And in an equally symbolic move, the Chinese side said that for now, the brandies would have a reprieve.
  — Laura King, Los Angeles Times, 9 May 2024
• The first, from a symbolic perspective, is your life right now.
  — Amy Raasch, Los Angeles Times, 3 Apr. 2024
• Lane adds that the ring Erich ended up with felt symbolic of their journey.
  — Hedy Phillips, Peoplemag, 21 Sep. 2022
• The Black vote must evolve from a tool of symbolic support to a lever for real, lasting change.
  — Christopher Anderson, Baltimore Sun, 21 Nov. 2024
• The action is likely to have little more than symbolic impact for the singer, who lives in Ukraine.
  — Ivan Nechepurenko, New York Times, 20 Nov. 2023
• Most of those past campaigns had been quixotic, symbolic, and, in the end, futile.
  — Marianne Mather, Chicago Tribune, 25 Nov. 2022
• In one example, at the end of June, the western city of Lviv held a unanimous but symbolic vote to ban the church.
  — New York Times, 14 July 2022
• Your dinner prayer could range from symbolic and lengthy to short and simple.
  — Jorie Nicole McDonald, Southern Living, 7 June 2023
• In many ways, the monarch holds a symbolic role, not a political one.
  — Simon Constable, Time, 22 Sep. 2022
• The monks in charge of the site conducted a funeral mass for him, marking his symbolic death.
  — Lanta Davis and Vince Reighard, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 Mar. 2024
• Yet even as the crimes or the forms of intoxication evolve, the power of the symbolic meal persists.
  — Jessica Carbone, Saveur, 24 Oct. 2024
• The subject carries a symbolic function: The bath is an act of cleansing — of starting fresh.
  — Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 9 Nov. 2023
• Across the state spring teams convened for the first time under sunny skies, symbolic of the hope inherent in the start of a new season.
  — Nate Weitzer, BostonGlobe.com, 20 Mar. 2023
• Since taking office, Boric has paid symbolic homage to Allende at home and in the United States.
  — Pamela Constable, Washington Post, 25 Sep. 2023
• Food plays a starring role in any Lunar New Year celebration, and the table will be covered with a feast of symbolic dishes.
  — Mae Hamilton, AFAR Media, 28 Jan. 2025

Last Updated: 18 Feb 2025