How to Use leitmotif in a Sentence

leitmotif

noun
Definition of leitmotifnext
  • The score, with its eerie leitmotif, is by Howard Shore.
    — Bruce Weber, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2017
  • Stuff like leitmotifs, or the way that certain set pieces feel like arias.
    — Simon Abrams, Esquire, 8 June 2016
  • In the self-portrait, a windmill—a leitmotif in most of Wood’s landscapes—looms behind him against a yellow sky.
    — Steven Strogatz, The New Yorker, 5 Mar. 2018
  • The same gesture was adopted after the putsch in Myanmar, the leitmotif of a protest movement millions strong.
    — New York Times, 12 Apr. 2021
  • Other times, the first four notes are used in a leitmotif, especially when the ghosts are doing creepy things.
    — Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 28 July 2023
  • His blackened execution pyre stands in a barren field, a leitmotif driven like a stake through the heart of the film.
    — Elle Carroll, Vulture, 6 Dec. 2021
  • The casual intrusion of food is a constant leitmotif of the books.
    — Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 12 Sep. 2022
  • Googly eyes are a central leitmotif of the film, for unknown reasons.
    — Michael O'Sullivan, Anchorage Daily News, 7 Apr. 2022
  • His boys are coy, knowing, and lithe; the male odalisque, in a state of opulent undress, is a favorite leitmotif.
    — Christopher Alessandrini, The New York Review of Books, 18 May 2019
  • Pastor Jon shows up for the first time on Page 96 and on 30 subsequent pages — a leitmotif of faith and enlightenment.
    — Washington Post, 23 Jan. 2020
  • Miketta said that has been a leitmotif of the winter, a function of geography and how the storms have been positioned.
    — Anthony R. Wood, Philly.com, 21 Mar. 2018
  • Celebrations were the leitmotif of this phase of our friendship.
    — Jessica B. Harris, Southern Living, 21 May 2020
  • The panther has been Cartier’s leitmotif for more than a century.
    — Nancy Hass, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2020
  • Here Levy upends a story that has some of the contours and leitmotifs of a cinematic Cold War mystery.
    — Rachel Donadio, The Atlantic, 11 Oct. 2019
  • But the tower hearkens back to an important leitmotif of Arthur’s story.
    — Josephine Livingstone, New Republic, 18 May 2017
  • Across the nine stories, in the leitmotif department, trepidations about turning 50 would get the nod.
    — Elinor Lipman, New York Times, 2 June 2017
  • An oversize tubular cuff that mirrored the sleeve of a kimono was a leitmotif in Sacai’s 49-piece display that showcased both men’s and women’s designs.
    — Thomas Adamson, The Seattle Times, 24 June 2017
  • Those noises are starting to turn up as audio leitmotifs in horror movies, for chrissakes.
    — Rob Beschizza, WIRED, 24 Jan. 2007
  • His signature games are a master class in how to shift registers, how to strategize, how to create forms and patterns and leitmotifs.
    — Will Harrison, New York Times, 11 July 2023
  • Of course, red is Rothko’s leitmotif and both works, arresting in scale, exemplify the artist’s torrid love affair with the color.
    — Ian Malone, Vogue, 11 May 2022
  • All over a tuna salad which keeps reappearing as a leitmotif.
    — Roy Trakin, Variety, 11 June 2022
  • While most analysts don’t think this means an imminent use of nuclear power, the hints are part of a leitmotif Putin has employed since the beginning of the war.
    — Laura King and Tracy Wilkinson, Anchorage Daily News, 27 Feb. 2023
  • Among designers, for whom a strong, fashion-loving mother is a leitmotif, leopard print has been a constant for decades.
    — Nancy MacDonell, WSJ, 18 Sep. 2018
  • The move fits with his Wagnerian influences, prizing leitmotif on top of the grand scope.
    — Ben Huberman, Longreads, 31 Oct. 2017
  • For Sedaris a snapping turtle with a partly missing foot and a tumor on its head becomes an unlikely leitmotif.
    — Alan Cumming, New York Times, 25 May 2018
  • At a tournament bombarded from all fronts by political concerns, the cause of Palestine is a kind of leitmotif.
    — Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 6 Dec. 2022
  • But a minority—just three out of 112—sang hybrid tunes, mixing leitmotifs from both the outgoing melody and the incipient one.
    — Ed Yong, The Atlantic, 24 July 2017
  • The watery leitmotif here visually washes over the picture.
    — Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 19 Apr. 2023
  • The transcendental mystique of Mr. Obama’s persona runs through his aides’ memoirs like a leitmotif.
    — Barton Swaim, WSJ, 5 July 2018
  • The leitmotif of the film is manipulation, which permeates the story across all social strata.
    — Leo Barraclough, Variety, 26 July 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'leitmotif.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: