How to Use discrete in a Sentence

discrete

adjective
  • Eliminating stress entirely is not an option. If there are discrete sources of stress in your life—a relationship, a job, a health problem—you can and should take action to try to mitigate them. But my experience is that we all are subject to a kind of conservation law of stress. If stress recedes in one area, it seems to increase in another.
    — Time, 17 Oct. 2005
  • This Shark Tank find is useful, discrete and easy to store.
    — Nicole Briese, USA TODAY, 23 June 2021
  • Their tasks are discrete: Clean up the scene, prepare the body for burial.
    — New York Times, 10 Aug. 2021
  • Here are the best self-defense weapons that are discrete and easy to acquire.
    — John Thompson, Men's Health, 27 July 2023
  • The Tempo Move adds a discrete piece of furniture to hold the mount and some equipment.
    — Corey Gaskin, Ars Technica, 29 Apr. 2023
  • On top of that, a discrete snap closure pocket is tucked into the back along the right hand vent.
    — Brad Lanphear, Men's Health, 28 June 2023
  • Humans decided to group the rise and fall of the sun into discrete days and weeks.
    — New York Times, 20 July 2021
  • That’s the advantage of the discrete Nvidia graphics card.
    — Ewan Spence, Forbes, 27 Apr. 2021
  • After all, the wall is not a solid object, it’s made up of discrete atoms.
    — Rhett Allain, WIRED, 24 Jan. 2025
  • Besides the flattering and comfortable fit of the dress, shoppers can’t get enough of the discrete pockets on the sides of the skirt.
    — Anna Popp, Travel + Leisure, 13 July 2023
  • Without the roots holding it in place, the soil can give way as a discrete mass and slide down the mountain, Dr. Roering said.
    — Henry Fountain, New York Times, 18 Sep. 2020
  • This is because beds are not cleared, turned and planted with discrete crops.
    — Adrian Higgins, Washington Post, 14 July 2021
  • That’s the forte of the modern mobile app, after all: easing the completion of a discrete task.
    — Michael Owen, The Atlantic, 23 June 2023
  • Human awareness of any discrete moment is thought to max out at a tenth of a second.
    — Tom Vanderbilt, Harper’s Magazine , 13 Mar. 2023
  • Or even a lobby per se—just a discrete private entrance with a 24-hour concierge.
    — Alison S. Cohn, Harper's BAZAAR, 8 Sep. 2022
  • The risk of nuclear disaster tends to shift in more discrete steps.
    — WIRED, 24 Jan. 2023
  • The Recharge Room aims to address these concerns in a more discrete and non-stigmatized way.
    — Georgann Yara, The Arizona Republic, 21 Mar. 2024
  • According to this model, breakups are not a discrete event but a series of stages.
    — Isle McElroy, The Atlantic, 16 Feb. 2024
  • Those looking for a discrete haven should look no further.
    — Lilah Ramzi, Vogue, 19 May 2022
  • But the White House largely treated these as discrete events, not as signs of a mounting problem.
    — Hannah Dreier, New York Times, 17 Apr. 2023
  • The country’s 22 biggest cities now hold three discrete rounds of land sales each year, rather than dribbling out lots.
    — Jonathan Cheng, WSJ, 8 Feb. 2022
  • This could have been a much more positive story with even a low-end discrete GPU.
    — PCMAG, 27 Sep. 2024
  • Each thing in the space shines with its own discrete significance.
    — Kyle Chayka, The New Republic, 15 May 2020
  • The key was to assign a discrete task to every producer.
    — Michael Simon Johnson, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2020
  • There has been thought put in to this to keep it as functional but as discrete as possible.
    — Ewan Spence, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2022
  • The absence of a signal within a discrete period of time was the instruction not to turn the block.
    — Robert Martone, Scientific American, 29 Oct. 2019
  • The telehealth company is one of the best places to buy Cialis online, thanks to its discrete services and fast turnaround.
    — Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 15 Sep. 2023
  • An every day carry knife is often on the smaller side, discrete and off-the-radar of the people that surround you.
    — Tim MacWelch, Outdoor Life, 27 Jan. 2020
  • Like the hundreds of discrete inputs that supposedly build the case against Sara, each of these materials means little on its own.
    — Sam Worley, Vulture, 4 Mar. 2025
  • As the Sinner case has made clear, no two doping cases are the same and comparing judgements made on discrete sets of facts and evidence is a limited exercise.
    — Matthew Futterman, The Athletic, 24 Feb. 2025

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