How to Use variously in a Sentence

variously

adverb
  • He has been variously described as a hero and a villain.
  • The term is spelled variously in different places.
  • The concept of freedom has been variously understood by different people.
  • The statue has been variously dated from the end of the first to the beginning of the third centuries.
    Francesco Sportelli, BostonGlobe.com, 13 May 2023
  • None of these variously amusing strands amounts to much, but then, things not amounting to much is sort of the point.
    Jessica Kiang, Variety, 11 Feb. 2022
  • Lights placed variously in the floor, on the wall posts and overhead combine to highlight the best features of guests and decor.
    Valli Herman, latimes.com, 10 Mar. 2018
  • The model and beauty founder has worn it variously sleek and smooth, wet-look, and with lots of salty, beachy texture.
    Hannah Coates, Glamour, 30 June 2023
  • But Roger Moore, who died this week at the age of 89 after a brief bout with cancer, is variously described as the smoothest Bond, the suavest Bond.
    Glenn Kenny, HWD, 23 May 2017
  • Jack is variously described and self-described as a ne’er-do-well, a reprobate, a black sheep and a scoundrel.
    Sam Sacks, WSJ, 25 Sep. 2020
  • The tailgate can be variously used as a stand-up desk, bar, or stairway into the bed.
    Dallas News, 18 Sep. 2021
  • In the brightness of the afternoon, a wall of trees outside was variously green: dark pine, mild maple, vivid oak.
    Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 18 Sep. 2023
  • The tour continues through the end of the year with a mix of headlining dates and gigs variously supporting the Strokes, Beck, and Phoenix.
    Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 9 Aug. 2023
  • The birds have white and black plumage, and a beak that’s variously described as being orangish-pink and reddish-orange.
    Gary Robbins, sandiegouniontribune.com, 18 Dec. 2017
  • In the end, CBS agreed to pay him what has been variously reported as $2.2 million a year and $8 million over five years.
    Richard Sandomir, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2024
  • This gives the space a narrow central passage with shelves of different depths and widths obtruding variously all the way to the back of the unit.
    Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harper's Magazine, 15 Sep. 2020
  • Above the podium, a bundle of metal tubes, variously ridged, rounded, squared off, streamlined, and half-piped, shoot up along the façade.
    Justin Davidson, Curbed, 3 Aug. 2023
  • Olmec, Toltec, Maya, Aztec—that found ways to exploit the bean, which was variously used as a monetary unit, a measuring unit and a meal.
    Franz Lidz, Smithsonian, 11 July 2019
  • The concrete is variously scored, gouged, wavy, and polished.
    Justin Davidson, Curbed, 23 Sep. 2021
  • The killings were variously blamed on Mafia vendettas, black vigilantes, a bootleggers war and the drug trade.
    William Thornton, AL.com, 4 Apr. 2018
  • As with Harvey’s best songs, the poems were variously dirty, bloody, bawdy, and moving, depending on the theme.
    Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 8 Nov. 2023
  • In the 20th century, the region was variously carved up between Italy and what was then Yugoslavia.
    Tara Isbabella Burton, WSJ, 22 Sep. 2021
  • Mr Corbyn was variously portrayed as a pantomime villain and a threat to the nation.
    The Economist, 7 Oct. 2017
  • One reason the strike lasted so long was that picketers received a stipend from the union, variously reported as $20 and $30 per week.
    Richard A. Marini, San Antonio Express-News, 7 Jan. 2022
  • This slim book on the legacies of colonialism has been described variously as a jeremiad and a mock travel guide.
    Bo Seo, The Atlantic, 1 June 2022
  • The answer was variously sushi; hummus and pita; and one day, it was spinach salad with eggs and bacon bits with blue cheese dressing.
    Stephanie Dolgoff, Good Housekeeping, 30 Sep. 2020
  • The primordial heebie-jeebies—revulsion perceived variously in the spine, the molars, the bristling of hairs on the back of the neck—are conjured best with images that beam the feeling straight to the flesh.
    Virginia Heffernan, Wired, 21 Jan. 2020
  • The saying, variously attributed, is that the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
    Bob Ford, Philly.com, 7 July 2017
  • The big cats, found mostly in Florida and the West and known variously as panthers, pumas and cougars, went extinct in Missouri in the 1920s from overhunting and trapping.
    Edward McKinley, kansascity, 3 July 2018
  • These are available variously at the website of the band’s label, their own webstore, and indie retailers.
    Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 4 Sep. 2024
  • The fashion industry is variously ranked as one of the worst environmental offenders.
    Pamela N. Danziger, Forbes, 19 Sep. 2024

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