How to Use had better in a Sentence

had better

phrase
  • But so far, the plaintiffs have had better luck in the state system.
    — Chase Jordan july 7, Charlotte Observer, 7 July 2026
  • Few Vikings players have had better training camps than those two.
    — Alec Lewis, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026
  • The next person who pulls the Oprah move had better be Gayle King.
    — Mikey O'Connell, HollywoodReporter, 31 July 2026
  • At $650 million a quarter, Paramount had better hope for a short run.
    — Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 3 Aug. 2026
  • New research found that people who took a daily multivitamin had better functional health than those who took a placebo.
    — Jamie Ducharme, HEALTH, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Sanders, who had a higher completion percentage than Watson but threw one more interception, had better stay ready.
    — Armando Salguero Outkick, FOXNews.com, 24 Aug. 2026
  • Yet none of the greats — not a single one — had better offensive statistics on the road than in the hitter-friendly confines of Coors Field.
    — Sam Blum, New York Times, 22 July 2026
  • But while Singapore scored higher overall, other nations had better clothing recycling rates.
    — Jennifer Bringle, Footwear News, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Mike Norvell had better turn things around in Tallahassee, or his time coaching the Seminoles could end before conference title games.
    — Trey Wallace Outkick, FOXNews.com, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Walmart owned the retail industry, and IBM had better technology, but neither made the connection.
    — Joseph Byrum, Forbes.com, 23 Feb. 2026
  • And in a study of a third group of over 690 participants, super movers had better cognition and lower prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
    — Katia Hetter, CNN Money, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Here’s hoping the real Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce had better luck than their lookalikes, who ended up having to rescue Thrasher’s bridal veil when a stiff wind came along.
    — Lisa Gutierrez july 6, Kansas City Star, 6 July 2026
  • Planets with relatively smaller cores, and therefore relatively thicker mantles, also had better luck on the atmospheric retention front.
    — Kiona N. Smith, Space.com, 21 July 2026
  • After three years, people taking multivitamins had better functional health than those taking placebos, with fewer health symptoms and better physical ability scores, the researchers found.
    — Jamie Ducharme, HEALTH, 25 Aug. 2026
  • In the same number of games, Manziel had better numbers in most categories through the air in 2013, including efficiency rating (17 points higher), touchdown passes (37 to 26) and passing yards per game (317 to 285).
    — Tom Layberger, Forbes.com, 29 June 2026

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