dictate to

phrasal verb

dictated to; dictating to; dictates to

: to give orders to (someone)

—usually used as (be) dictated to

I resent being dictated to by someone with half my experience.

Examples of dictate to in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Whispering Mode lets users dictate to Flow when others are around simply by whispering the words. —

Mark Sparrow, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024 Americans do not like to have their major decisions dictated to them. —

Casey B. Mulligan, National Review, 25 Sep. 2024 Still, Hoffman’s demanding and radical view of documentary filmmaking and its inherent contrivances was artistically fruitful, not as a dictate to other filmmakers but a guiding light for his own work. —

Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2024 The Pentagon needs to work with, not dictate to, the private sector. —

William J. Burns, Foreign Affairs, 10 June 2024 Scott Hanselman, a Microsoft vice president who looks after its global developer community, says that in the pre-Nadella era, Microsoft had a reputation for dictating to developers and forcing them to use the company’s entire tech stack. —

Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 20 May 2024 Still, the perception that European powers are dictating to their governments stings. —

Patricia Cohen Jes Aznar, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2024 The main message is: don’t let other people dictate to you how to live your life. —

Rachel Syme, The New Yorker, 14 Mar. 2024 My view is: People ought to be allowed to live their lives, without a great Social Engineer hanging over them, and dictating to them. —

Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 3 Jan. 2024