How to Use cardinal in a Sentence

cardinal

1 of 2 noun
Definition of cardinalnext
Synonyms for cardinalnext
  • The Pope appointed two new cardinals this year.
  • There are deer in the woods, large-mouth bass in the water and cardinals in the air.
    — Jeanne Houck, Cincinnati.com, 28 Apr. 2017
  • The cardinals flash, again, like fire over our little piece of sky.
    — Southern Living, 1 May 2017
  • An up-close image of the fiend, lurking above the cardinal's deathbed.
    — Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 10 Nov. 2023
  • If a show trial for a cardinal doesn’t do it, what would?
    — William McGurn, WSJ, 19 Sep. 2022
  • In fact a number of the cardinals from Brazil and bishops are friends of Pope Francis.
    — Bradley J. Fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, 7 June 2017
  • The path to the College Football Playoff isn’t quite paved with cardinal and gold just yet.
    — Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 26 Nov. 2022
  • Later that year, he was named a cardinal, the top cadre of the church from which popes are selected.
    — Rachel Donadio, New York Times, 31 Dec. 2022
  • These seed heads are a great source of food for cardinals, finches and chickadees.
    — Chris McKeown, The Enquirer, 12 Aug. 2023
  • Ratzinger was born in Bavaria in 1927, was raised in a devout Catholic family, and wanted to be a cardinal from the age of five.
    — Paul Elie, The New Yorker, 4 Jan. 2023
  • The cardinal’s groupies, and the synod’s enemies, hung around, too.
    — Jason Horowitz, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2023
  • Lichtman: Picture a cardinal getting off the ground, pushing its wings up and down, fast and hard.
    — Flora Lichtman, Scientific American, 31 May 2023
  • Eighteen of the 21 new cardinals are younger than 80 and would be eligible to vote in a conclave.
    — Reuters, NBC News, 9 July 2023
  • Hamas is unlikely to take the cardinal up on his offer.
    — Nr Editors, National Review, 20 Oct. 2023
  • Red is also the tunic of cardinals, as well as the velvet cloak of aristocrats.
    — Selene Oliva, Glamour, 18 Sep. 2023
  • My top-three favorite birds: The northern cardinal—male or female plumage—in the dead of winter, no leaves on the trees, dark bark with snowy white background.
    — Andrea Thompson, Scientific American, 5 June 2020
  • Soon after, he was named a cardinal, a member of the administrative body that elects the pope.
    — Mathew Schmalz, The Conversation, 31 Dec. 2022
  • An Italian cardinal told reporters he had been informed that the pope was doing well.
    — Fox News, 5 July 2021
  • Benedict then returned to the Vatican, no longer a pope or cardinal.
    — Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY, 2 Jan. 2023
  • The ceiling was to be shared by a bon vivant, learned cardinal with a select audience of like-minded men.
    — Monika Schmitter, Fortune, 21 Mar. 2023
  • Instead, the Jesuit cardinal of Buenos Aires was elected.
    — Paul Elie, The New Yorker, 18 Sep. 2023
  • After a decade in power — longer than many had expected — the 87-year-old Francis has named most of the cardinals who will pick his replacement.
    — Harriet Ryan, Los Angeles Times, 18 Dec. 2023
  • With this pop-up card, your sweetheart will get to a surprise paper basket full of cardinals and cherry blossoms.
    — Moriah Mason, Southern Living, 1 Feb. 2024
  • The Italian cardinal was a star, even mentioned as a potential future pope.
    — Francis X. Rocca, WSJ, 12 Dec. 2023
  • With the latest appointments, the number of cardinals who meet that condition stands at 137.
    — Frances D'emilio, BostonGlobe.com, 9 July 2023
  • The Walworth County charge is the latest development in a years-long fall from grace for the once-powerful cardinal.
    — Sophie Carson, Journal Sentinel, 17 Apr. 2023
  • The prelate, 60, is the first member of the Dalit community, considered the lowest rung of India’s caste system, to become a cardinal.
    — Frances D'emilio, al, 27 Aug. 2022
  • The prelate, 60, is the first member of the Dalit community, considered the lowest rung of India's caste system, to become a cardinal.
    — Frances D'emilio, BostonGlobe.com, 27 Aug. 2022
  • Not waiting for the verdict of a Vatican court, Francis also removed his rights as a cardinal.
    — Fox News, 27 July 2021
  • One moment when all was very quiet, the whistling song of a Northern cardinal pierced the silence, while an Eastern cottontail rabbit hopped through the grasses.
    — Jeanine Barone, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2021
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cardinal

2 of 2 adjective
  • My cardinal rule is to always be honest.
  • But never break the cardinal rule: Don’t break the bank.
    — Virginia Van Zanten, Vogue, 22 Mar. 2023
  • The Yalalag dancers associate it with the four cardinal points and the union of the peoples who live in the mountains of the state.
    — Fernanda Pérez Sánchez, Vogue, 8 Aug. 2022
  • The cardinal rule of drug smuggling is don’t get pulled over.
    — John Koopman, Rolling Stone, 21 Sep. 2023
  • Too good to be true The cardinal rule of the internet ought to be: Caveat emptor.
    — Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes, 17 July 2023
  • One of the cardinal rules of sportswriting is that writers don’t root.
    — Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle, 18 Aug. 2021
  • But this bright-red cardinal looks like he was plucked right out of a Christmas card.
    — Chron, 13 Dec. 2020
  • The cardinal rule of stargazing is going somewhere dark — the darker the skies, the better the view.
    — Stefanie Waldek, Travel + Leisure, 11 Aug. 2023
  • Near the front, seated a few feet from the soon-to-be cardinal was Yurii Sas, a priest wrapped in a Ukranian flag.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 June 2022
  • And in spring, the cardinal couple started bringing a young bird with them that was brown with a touch of red.
    — al, 9 Mar. 2021
  • This was the ancients’ guide for placing the four cardinal signs in the zodiac.
    — Emily Simone, Allure, 20 May 2022
  • So much so that he was charged with sedition, the cardinal colonial sin.
    — Tunku Varadarajan, WSJ, 27 Dec. 2020
  • The cardinal rule of bedtime is simple: Don’t look under the bed.
    — K. Austin Collins, Rolling Stone, 10 Jan. 2023
  • Brady also owned up to the cardinal sin of getting ahead of herself.
    — New York Times, 18 Feb. 2021
  • And the corners of the Great Pyramid of Giza also align well with the cardinal directions — north, south, east, and west.
    — Eric Betz, Discover Magazine, 5 Mar. 2021
  • Aries Aries, a cardinal fire sign, has a lot in common with Capricorn.
    — Katie Mannion, Peoplemag, 12 Jan. 2024
  • And what of the cardinal sin of Hollywood Week-forgetting the lyrics?
    — Michele Amabile Angermiller, Variety, 28 Mar. 2022
  • There are three cardinal rules for working out: 1. have fun, 2.
    — Hannah Oh, Seventeen, 23 June 2023
  • In some senses, the top of the large cardinal hierarchy is in sight.
    — Dave Linkletter, Popular Mechanics, 22 July 2022
  • To begin something, to kindle, is to recognise the cardinal rule of life: Life is change.
    — Gala Mukomolova, refinery29.com, 26 Mar. 2021
  • Like most annual vines, cardinal climber prefers to be in full sun.
    — Viveka Neveln, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 Oct. 2022
  • Isn't that the cardinal rule when living with roommates?
    — Dalton Ross, EW.com, 12 Aug. 2022
  • Below, Park shares her cardinal style secrets, from the best cheap thrills to why a button-down—in any way, shape, or form—can’t be beat.
    — Zoe Ruffner, Vogue, 12 Nov. 2021
  • For all his faults and all the reasons for his firing, Herman’s cardinal sin was not winning enough.
    — Chuck Carlton, Dallas News, 3 Jan. 2021
  • Frequent Perusers know that to be the cardinal sin of coaches and their dealings with heathens such as me.
    — Paul Daugherty, The Enquirer, 6 Jan. 2022
  • The key to answering that question is to avoid what Samuel refers to as these three cardinal sins of training, and your arms will be popping in no time.
    — Jeff Tomko, Men's Health, 14 Oct. 2022
  • That is to say, one of the cardinal pieces of beauty guru advice was that drugstore mascara was the gold standard.
    — Annie Goldsmith, Town & Country, 21 Aug. 2021
  • Eighty-three of the 132 cardinal leaders that would be tasked with electing the next pope were appointed by Pope Francis.
    — William Skipworth, Forbes, 28 Nov. 2023
  • Sophomore Sofía Perkins, whose favorite plants are the red cardinal flowers, looks at the courtyard and feels pride in the work of she and her fellow students.
    — Gavin Good, Chicago Tribune, 27 Sep. 2022
  • That’s followed by sliding his feet into a pair of large, cardinal talons.
    — Vincent T. Davis, San Antonio Express-News, 23 Jan. 2023

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