How to Use virile in a Sentence

virile

adjective
Definition of virilenext
Synonyms for virilenext
  • To the younger set, the crisis was a concern for the old and feeble, not the young and virile.
    — Daniel Bice, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 26 Mar. 2020
  • In every case, a strong body is the goal, and most often, that means a virile male body.
    — Derek Beres, Rolling Stone, 19 Apr. 2022
  • All three pups have the same father, a virile male sea lion named Niko.
    — Matt McNulty, PEOPLE.com, 20 June 2019
  • One night, a virile young servant sneaks into the queen’s bed.
    — Andrew Stark, WSJ, 2 July 2021
  • Thanks to advances in medical science, the virile, balding type may soon go the way of the dodo bird.
    — Wired Staff, WIRED, 15 Mar. 2004
  • In the wild, pandas are virile, with sperm counts a hundred times higher than humans.
    — National Geographic, 26 May 2018
  • The president's fierce defense of Rice had virile flare.
    — Charles P. Pierce, Esquire, 19 Nov. 2012
  • Steve McQueen and his legendary car was, for many young Frenchmen of the '70s, the incarnation of male and virile codes.
    — Phoebe Wall Howard, Detroit Free Press, 19 Jan. 2018
  • Next to him, Priebus seems to be an older model of the same White House official, looking back at his younger, more virile self.
    — Ryu Spaeth, New Republic, 28 July 2017
  • Sprung from the loins of the virile wellness industry, these next-gen pills and powders bear the seductive trappings of self-care.
    — Jancee Dunn, Allure, 2 Oct. 2018
  • Mr. Kwiecien plays Onegin at first as a shameless flirt who toys with the smitten Tatiana, singing with virile allure and breezy charm.
    — Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, 31 Mar. 2017
  • Rap battles take the place of duels in this virile production, performed on a set as blank as the pages of a drama that might yet be written.
    — Washington Post, 15 Apr. 2022
  • Could the name be a sly reference to the female fantasy of the virile pool boy depicted in endless films?
    — Sharon Edelson, Forbes, 26 May 2021
  • The young, virile Jack and his radiant wife Jacqueline embodied the American dream and the hopes of a nation.
    — Miriam Velasquez, Orange County Register, 28 May 2017
  • The humpback songs spread horizontally, passing from one virile young thing to the next, like teenage fashions.
    — Alison Gopnik, WSJ, 3 Aug. 2017
  • The moment, in retrospect, came about from a virile accident.
    — The Washington Post, NOLA.com, 28 Mar. 2018
  • While virile Martin conformed to the Hollywood template of leading man, nebbishy Lewis was not an easy fit.
    — Carrie Rickey, Philly.com, 20 Aug. 2017
  • Hard bop, in all its virile glory, has a hold on Davis, a supremely adept trombonist for whom the idiom is now as natural as his heartbeat.
    — Steve Davis, The New Yorker, 5 June 2017
  • The video that sparked the controversy went virile after Faith's brother posted it on Facebook.
    — Kevin McGill, Fox News, 27 Aug. 2018
  • William Jackson Harper is a rom-com minor deity who has more than once been cast as a non-virile Black man in a relationship with a white woman.
    — Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 15 Aug. 2022
  • Some of them frankly characterized fascism as a more virile expression of their party’s creed.
    — Martin Pugh, Slate Magazine, 14 Apr. 2017
  • Billy was famously virile, siring offspring with a pair of females, both of whom had names as human as his: Hannah and Matilda.
    — Washington Post, 17 Nov. 2020
  • Gone was the powerful leader from Themyscira; in her place was a flirtatious woman whose main goals were making the Bat Man feel virile and convincing the men around her to do their jobs.
    — Kelsea Stahler, refinery29.com, 18 Mar. 2021
  • DiCaprio and Pitt display two kinds of masculinity: loud, demonstrative Rick, who lives for praise, and laconic, virile Cliff, who lives to be needed.
    — Armond White, National Review, 26 July 2019
  • The vulnerability of his light, boyish sound also invites you in, even if some opera-goers might prefer the more virile Jonas Kaufmann.
    — David Patrick Stearns, Philly.com, 6 Feb. 2018
  • Snugly: The Fox News man — virile, muscular, steeped in history — is under siege from the softness of a woke society, and the evidence shows up in the numbers, goes the argument, which cites declining sperm counts and the like.
    — Erik Wemple, Washington Post, 14 Oct. 2022
  • Congratulations, your virile starter can now bake bread.
    — Lindsay Campbell, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Apr. 2020
  • Maddox captures that virile quality of dancing that always set Gene Kelly apart.
    — Theodore P. Mahne, NOLA.com, 31 Jan. 2018
  • Anger and empathy: a curious pair, the one so virile and aggressive, the other so ostensibly female.
    — Lauren Elkin, Harper's magazine, 25 Nov. 2019
  • But only Cooper was nominated Wednesday for his comedic turn as a virile hotshot producer, and the film was passed over completely in the best cast category.
    — Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 12 Jan. 2022

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