as a rule
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Scheduled elections should, as a rule, go ahead as planned, and only be postponed in exceptional circumstances," said a spokeswoman.
From BBC • Jan. 23, 2026
First of all, as a rule, Mark and I are not generally for throwing sandwiches.
From Slate • Nov. 7, 2025
Or to honesty, as a rule, though he insists that this account of his disastrous Venetian sojourn is genuine.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025
Royal portraits, as a rule, tend to be fairly staid, predictable affairs.
From New York Times • May 15, 2024
Even in ancient days they were, as a rule, shy of ‘the Big Folk’, as they call us, and now they avoid us with dismay and are becoming hard to find.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
