How to Use anodyne in a Sentence

anodyne

1 of 2 adjective
Definition of anodynenext
Synonyms for anodynenext
  • The list, the center of the plot, should chill the blood but the song is merely anodyne.
    — David Benedict, Variety, 20 June 2023
  • The germ of the conspiracy theory had to do with one of the most anodyne parts of my job.
    — Benjamin Hart, Daily Intelligencer, 17 June 2018
  • So far, no one seems to know quite what to post on Threads, though the dominant tone is anodyne and sincere.
    — Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker, 8 July 2023
  • The court's order came in an anodyne statement with no dissents - just the kind of thing legal experts say the court strives for.
    — Author: Robert Barnes, Ann E. Marimow, Anchorage Daily News, 27 Nov. 2019
  • At even the most anodyne applause lines the Democrats remain seated.
    — Anchorage Daily News, 12 Feb. 2018
  • At the start, those exterior shots of the house at 704 Hauser Street seem so anodyne.
    — Vulture, 6 Dec. 2023
  • But these anodyne statements are much too little, too late.
    — Ryan Kearney, New Republic, 24 Sep. 2017
  • Among those watching the sunset, plenty seemed to have more anodyne reasons.
    — Henry Wismayer, Washington Post, 29 Aug. 2022
  • But that seems to be an anodyne way of saying that the exact nature, cause, and solution to burnout aren't entirely clear.
    — Whizy Kim, refinery29.com, 28 Sep. 2021
  • Sure, Grok’s rivals may be annoyingly anodyne and prone to playing it safe, but there’s a reason for that.
    — David Meyer, Fortune Europe, 6 Nov. 2023
  • On the face of it, Pruitt’s remarks are relatively anodyne.
    — Tara Isabella Burton, Vox, 6 July 2018
  • The auto industry may soon be usurped by an anodyne fleet of robo-taxis, but the final days are turning into a bit of a party for petrolheads.
    — Kyle Stock, Bloomberg.com, 14 July 2017
  • Ogles, who represents the district that the Covenant School is located in, was quick to offer a bland, anodyne statement in response.
    — Tori Otten, The New Republic, 27 Mar. 2023
  • Initially the murals arranged by Paint the Void were anodyne by design.
    — Ryan Kost, SFChronicle.com, 27 Sep. 2020
  • Whether this shift toward a more anodyne, algorithmic ethos is a good thing, of course, depends on your vantage point.
    — New York Times, 17 Feb. 2021
  • The art was of the anodyne motel variety — an old-masters-esque tableau, a canvas of a zebra standing in a forest.
    — Matthew Shaer, New York Times, 12 June 2017
  • But this anodyne sentiment is too vague and banal to explain anything, much less carry a book, and Gladwell knows it.
    — Jennifer Szalai, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2019
  • Even the most anodyne mention of civil rights is suppressed, as seen recently with revered figures like Rosa Parks and Ruby Bridges.
    — Clay Cane, CNN, 5 Apr. 2023
  • The most anodyne events are freighted with the possibility of, well, anything.
    — Robin Givhan, Washington Post, 18 Oct. 2019
  • Though it is couched in the anodyne language of a corporate news release, the document’s message should come as a shock to everyone in the media business.
    — Farhad Manjoo, New York Times, 29 June 2016
  • In a sea of increasingly anodyne and wearable high fashion, Dossena goes his own way.
    — Rachel Tashjian, Harper's BAZAAR, 3 Mar. 2023
  • But most people saw everything that was missing: the patient buildup from dark to light, the anodyne displays of technical skill, the kitschy sentiments.
    — Washington Post, 14 Sep. 2023
  • Since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, Zoom has evolved from being anodyne conference call software to a household name symbolizing much of remote-work life.
    — Marty Swant, Forbes, 29 Sep. 2021
  • Chamberlain, for one, held West's anodyne nature against him.
    — Jack McCallum, SI.com, 12 Oct. 2017
  • Triangle of Sadness critiques class in a dull, Marxist way that is almost anodyne.
    — Armond White, National Review, 27 Jan. 2023
  • But even then Barr, 65, was far from an anodyne personality — as ABC surely knew.
    — Daniel Arkin /, NBC News, 29 May 2018
  • The narrator is to have no part in the suicide other than offering emotional support—but what could such an anodyne phrase mean in the context of imminent death?
    — Sam Sacks, WSJ, 4 Sep. 2020
  • The backlash clouded what is normally a pretty anodyne event.
    — Annalisa Merelli, Quartz, 27 Sep. 2019
  • For the most part, its contents—lists of instructions and precautions, a diagram of the drug’s molecular structure—make for anodyne reading.
    — Jonathan Zittrain, The New Yorker, 23 July 2019
  • Warming For the ultimate call to action, release an anodyne statement that falls short of overwhelming praise for Taylor Swift and attribute it to the forces behind climate change.
    — Ivan Ehlers, The New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2023
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anodyne

2 of 2 noun
  • The first inning began with the anodyne, at least by the standards of what was to come.
    — Alan Blinder, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2019
  • But the truth of the matter was likely much more anodyne.
    — Eliza McGraw, Smithsonian, 12 Mar. 2018
  • Even gluttony can be spun as anodyne, a form of self-care.
    — Carrie Battan, The New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2019
  • But then there is the anodyne Orange County dialect in Dirty John.
    — Virginia Heffernan, WIRED, 1 June 2018
  • All of that techno-wizardry is fine and well, but there's always a danger that the end product feels cold or anodyne.
    — Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 17 Sep. 2017
  • During this dark time, vodka was Caron's anodyne; her histrionics were tabloid fodder; and a song of love was a sad song, indeed.
    — Lili Rosenkranz, Town & Country, 17 July 2014
  • Such films taught audiences how to keep Christmas in an anodyne manner that was designed not to give offense.
    — Terry Teachout, WSJ, 20 Dec. 2018
  • Big moves, really, for two people who are best known for being anodyne.
    — Rebecca Farley, refinery29.com, 2 July 2018
  • Stanford University tries to buy her silence with a few park benches and an anodyne plaque.
    — Christine Emba, Twin Cities, 2 Oct. 2019
  • Even an anodyne softball game between Sanders’s staff and members of the press became a source of (minor) controversy.
    — Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 28 Aug. 2019
  • Many viewers may have heard them as anodyne; others likely reacted a bit like Mike Myers did standing next to Kanye West 12 years ago.
    — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 13 Sep. 2017
  • This might seem extreme: at first glance, the roundtable’s recommendations border on the anodyne.
    — The Economist, 22 Aug. 2019
  • The consequences of a national referendum process in the U.S. could resemble what has transpired in the U.K. more than the anodyne promises of would-be reformers.
    — The Conversation, 17 Sep. 2019
  • But environmental groups fear that Abe and the G-20 would produce an anodyne communique that failed to grasp the seriousness of the crisis facing the planet.
    — Washington Post, 28 June 2019
  • Don’t let the anodyne language of Trump’s clearly capable speechwriter fool you.
    — Brittney Cooper, Cosmopolitan, 31 Jan. 2018
  • Maduro’s administration sends a stream of anodyne images as protesters send out up-to-the-minute updates of arrests and violence.
    — Nathan Crooks, Bloomberg.com, 3 May 2017
  • So as anodyne as the choice of artists might be, tonight’s Vance Joy show masks a surprisingly risky move for a pair of companies that are at the forefront of a larger conversation about privacy and user safety.
    — Peter Rubin, WIRED, 30 May 2018
  • The reigning commercial queen of the region continues to be Southern Living, that anodyne, 51-year-old war horse with the best cheese-straw recipes, and an audited circulation of 2.8 million.
    — Richard Fausset, ajc, 10 Sep. 2017
  • The anodyne responses the students received from L.U.O. were frequently glossed with Christian bromides.
    — Alec MacGillis/propublica, New York Times, 17 Apr. 2018
  • Rather than an anodyne highway through the urban hinterlands where dealerships cluster, there’s a sinuous track.
    — Kyle Stock, Bloomberg.com, 26 Feb. 2018
  • The dance pressure and styles scarcely change; there are wonderful moments when (for example) break-dancing and Trisha Brown style seem fascinatingly fused but also long passages of the anodyne.
    — Alastair MacAulay, New York Times, 21 Apr. 2017
  • And Wiig’s anodyne lilt as Sandra perfectly captures the push and pull between the system’s algorithmic instincts and the more human trappings of its operators.
    — Michael Andor Brodeur, BostonGlobe.com, 10 May 2018
  • Each spread offers an anodyne expression accompanied by a blocky, straightforward illustration that, when the next page unfolds, takes a cockamamie new form.
    — Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 8 June 2018
  • Balcony tables overlook the civilized debauchery below, and the soundtrack is a mix of the usual anodyne electropop wallpaper and Rat Pack dance remixes, the latter a diabolical genre designed to drive you out of your mind.
    — Mike Sula, Chicago Reader, 20 Sep. 2017
  • Gates became an important player on the campaign, striking up a friendship with Reince Preibus and managing many of the anodyne responsibilites of a political operation.
    — Benjamin Hart, Daily Intelligencer, 30 Oct. 2017
  • Kogan had created the most anodyne of tools for electoral manipulation: an app based on personality quizzes.
    — Nicholas Thompson and Fred Vogelstein, WIRED, 20 Mar. 2018
  • President Trump delivered a fairly traditional mix of barbs and bromides during his 80-minute State of the Union address on Jan. 30, but one seemingly anodyne claim was actually pretty audacious.
    — Massimo Calabresi, Time, 1 Feb. 2018
  • Even something as theoretically anodyne and broadly popular as net neutrality is a partisan football these days, endlessly kicked, carried, and thrown back and forth.
    — Kate Cox, Ars Technica, 5 Nov. 2019
  • Walker has a presence both intimidatingly sleek and strangely anodyne.
    — Boris Kachka, The Cut, 5 Feb. 2018
  • The game’s anodyne subject and photogenic appearance make those images and clips immediately appealing.
    — Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 22 Oct. 2019

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