How to Use stilted in a Sentence

stilted

adjective
Definition of stiltednext
Synonyms for stiltednext
  • The guard scored 23 points but couldn’t make up for a stilted performance on both sides of the court.
    — Julia Poe, chicagotribune.com, 10 Dec. 2021
  • The stilted house even provides its own porch for views from above.
    — Patrick Connolly, orlandosentinel.com, 27 Aug. 2020
  • The dance is her, to be sure – lots of severe, stilted movements and cues from decades past.
    — Scottie Andrew, CNN, 18 Dec. 2022
  • The boat took us across the great bay, past stilted huts, floating docks and flooded forest.
    — Smithsonian, 17 Dec. 2019
  • The problem is that those lines get more and more stilted, taking many of the performances with them.
    — Caroline Framke, Variety, 16 Dec. 2021
  • Even a recent birthday party for one of Aaron’s sons was a bit stilted.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 20 Oct. 2019
  • In the light of day everything looks a little stilted, a little off.
    — Jessica Ferri, Los Angeles Times, 11 May 2022
  • Most have to attend their share of stilted happy hours and softball games.
    — New York Times, 19 July 2022
  • Peng re-emerged last week, but in an oddly stilted fashion.
    — Fortune, 23 Nov. 2021
  • Their first encounter, in the parking lot of the tiny town airport, is thick with the stilted awkwardness of distance.
    — Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Jan. 2024
  • Way down upon the Suwannee River Not far from this stilted home.
    — Brett Clarkson, Sun-Sentinel.com, 18 Apr. 2018
  • Musk's mom appears on stage — little stilted, as these things go.
    — Andy Hoglund, EW.com, 9 May 2021
  • The two sip their drinks and make stilted conversation.
    — Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 28 Oct. 2021
  • Villagers in Dazhai spoke with the same stilted nostalgia.
    — Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2021
  • Every so often, the green of the forest was broken up by stilted thatched houses.
    — Emily Gillespie, Washington Post, 4 Oct. 2019
  • No one here is particularly close, so the first of the film’s many tableside chats gets off to a stilted start.
    — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 23 Sep. 2022
  • And all the scenes of orgies, disturbingly graphic childbirth and dragon-flying in the world can't fix a dull plot and a stilted script.
    — Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 19 Aug. 2022
  • There are even stilted hotels and restaurants that tourists can visit.
    — Janelle Davis, CNN, 9 July 2022
  • The picture marked a break from the current White House’s hodgepodge of awkward iPhone selfies and stilted portraits.
    — Katy Waldman, Slate Magazine, 3 Aug. 2017
  • Making small talk can be more stilted over Zoom, and, sometimes, people just don’t get your sense of humor over Slack.
    — Chloe Berger, Fortune, 24 Aug. 2022
  • And yet the conversations lack juice, and the engagement is halting and stilted.
    — The New Yorker, 10 Sep. 2021
  • After some stilted chitchat, Fielder reveals to the teacher that their encounter has all been pre-planned.
    — oregonlive, 12 July 2022
  • Heather’s ex, Billy, shows up to take a family photo and give his stilted stamp of approval.
    — Olivia Crandall, Vulture, 3 Feb. 2021
  • The movie’s voice-overs are eloquent and emotional but use stilted language, which didn’t fit Mary’s journey.
    — Alyse Stanley, Washington Post, 29 June 2022
  • The playful spirit of Empire cuts the stilted self-seriousness down to size.
    — Darren Franich, EW.com, 30 Oct. 2019
  • All of this unfolds with prose that is borderline stilted and with major and minor plot turns that make little sense.
    — Richard Lipez, Dallas News, 26 Aug. 2019
  • Browsing the web and general app performance are both a bit stilted.
    — PCMAG, 18 Sep. 2023
  • Again, this is a rather stilted way of making use of self-driving cars and does not seem especially tenable.
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes, 19 May 2021
  • So if my emotions are real — and as an actor, that’s my goal — then the stilted, strange dialogue will seem real, too.
    — Alissa Wilkinson, Vox, 12 July 2019
  • That’s when characters don’t talk quite like real people do but speak instead in weirdly stilted or melodramatic ways.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2024

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