Define example sentences

"Define" Example Sentences

I need to define what success actually means to me before I can chase it.
The contract doesn't clearly define who's responsible if something goes wrong.
She spent the whole meeting trying to define the project scope, but nobody was listening.
Can you define the difference between these two terms for me?
They asked me to define my role in the company, and honestly, I had no idea.
The law fails to define what counts as harassment in this specific situation.
He's been trying to define his career path since graduation — still figuring it out.
We need to define our budget before we start hiring new people.
The therapist asked me to define what anxiety feels like for me personally.
Nobody can seem to define what makes a good leader anymore.
I hate when people use words without bothering to define them first.
The new policy tries to define acceptable workplace behavior, but it's vague.
She wanted to define herself on her own terms, not through other people's expectations.
You have to define your boundaries or people will walk all over you.
The study attempts to define the relationship between sleep and productivity.
I'm still trying to define what I want from this relationship.
Define 'on time' — because apparently we have different interpretations.
The government struggles to define poverty in a way that actually helps people.
He refused to define his sexuality, and that was completely valid.
We should define our values as a team before we make any major decisions.
The artist said her work doesn't need to define anything — it just exists.
They asked me to define my strengths in the job interview, and I froze.
You can't define love — you just feel it or you don't.
The rules define what's allowed, but they don't cover every situation.
I'm trying to define what makes me happy versus what I think should make me happy.
The company's mission statement tries to define why we exist, but it sounds corporate.
She wanted to define success differently than her parents did.
The contract needs to define payment terms clearly or we'll have problems.
Nobody asked me to define my expectations, so I just assumed we were on the same page.
He spent years trying to define himself before he realized he didn't have to.

Common Phrases

define the terms
define the scope
define your role
define the difference
define the relationship
define success
define boundaries
define the problem
define expectations
define the rules
clearly define
help define

Examples by Level

Can you define this word for me?
The teacher will define what we need to learn today.

I need to define what I want before I apply for the job.
The rules define which students can use the library after school.

Looking back, I realize I never really took time to define what happiness meant to me.
The company's values are supposed to define how we treat customers, but it doesn't always work that way.

She spent months trying to define the boundaries between professional and personal relationships at work.
The study attempts to define the connection between social media use and mental health in teenagers.

What we choose to define as success often reveals more about our fears than our ambitions.
The difficulty in trying to define identity in a multicultural society reflects deeper questions about belonging and authenticity.

There's something profoundly limiting about insisting on the need to define oneself — as though the act of naming somehow fixes us in place.
The tension between allowing people to define themselves and society's need for categories remains fundamentally unresolved.

Examples by Scenario

🏠 Everyday Life

My kid asked me to define what a metaphor is, and I couldn't explain it without sounding like a textbook.
We were arguing about what counts as 'clean' until I finally asked him to define it.

💼 Workplace

The manager asked everyone to define their job responsibilities in writing — turns out we all had different ideas.
I spent the first week trying to define what my actual duties were supposed to be.

📊 Business

The marketing team needs to define the target audience before we launch the campaign.
Our business model fails to clearly define how we actually make money.

🛒 Buying / Shopping

I couldn't decide which phone to buy until I had to define what features actually mattered to me.
The store's return policy doesn't clearly define what 'defective' means, so I'm stuck.

✈️ Travel

We had to define what our budget was before booking anything, or we'd end up spending way too much.
The hotel website doesn't define what 'ocean view' means — our room faced a parking lot.

📚 Education

The professor asked us to define the key concepts from the reading before the discussion started.
My daughter's teacher wants parents to define what 'homework help' looks like so there's no confusion.

❤️ Relationships

We finally sat down to define what we actually wanted from each other — it was harder than I expected.
He couldn't define why he was upset, just that something felt wrong between us.

📰 News / Politics

The government is struggling to define what counts as misinformation in the new media bill.
Politicians keep using the word 'freedom' without bothering to define what they actually mean.

💻 Technology

The app's terms of service don't clearly define how your data will be used or sold.
AI researchers are trying to define what it means for a machine to truly 'understand' language.

📝 Formal Writing

The research paper must define all key terms in the methodology section before proceeding with analysis.
Regulations require companies to define their environmental impact using standardized metrics.