How to Use shape up in a Sentence

shape up

verb
  • And how does next year shape up?
    — Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 30 Sep. 2025
  • The home has shaped up since then.
    — Vaishnavi Nayel Talawadekar, Architectural Digest, 4 June 2026
  • Let’s see how the field shapes up.
    — Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 6 Feb. 2026
  • Let’s take a look at how this one shapes up.
    — Doug Haller, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2026
  • The change in plans shaped up to be a huge hit.
    — CBS News, 10 Mar. 2026
  • Here’s how Texas shaped up on the list.
    — Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 May 2026
  • This is shaping up to be a slog.
    — Joe Nguyen, Denver Post, 7 Sep. 2025
  • This is shaping up as a shootout.
    — Joe Nguyen, Denver Post, 14 Sep. 2025
  • Here’s how things are shaping up.
    — Daniel Wine, CNN Money, 21 Jan. 2026
  • This year's matchup is shaping up to be a close one.
    — Itay Hod, CBS News, 7 Feb. 2026
  • Sunday shapes up to be more than a two-man race.
    — Edgar Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 Mar. 2026
  • The box office is shaping up to be not good.
    — Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 25 June 2026
  • When the gluten has had time to rest, the dough should be ready to shape up and stretch out.
    — Taylor Murray, Country Living, 17 June 2019
  • This year is shaping up to become one of the hottest on record.
    — Jon-David Regis, NBC news, 12 Oct. 2025
  • This year, hair is shaping up to be all about bold contrasts.
    — Ariel Wodarcyk, InStyle, 7 Jan. 2026
  • My spouse will either flip out or come to his senses and shape up.
    — Meghan Leahy, Washington Post, 25 Jan. 2023
  • Here’s a look at what’s shaping up to be a showdown.
    — John O'Connor, Fortune, 14 Mar. 2026
  • Now, how might these new chips shape up in terms of performance?
    — Wendy Sheehan Donnell, PC Magazine, 29 Sep. 2025
  • This year is shaping up to be a big one for self-driving trucks.
    — Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, 21 Mar. 2026
  • Once the storms clear, the weekend is shaping up to be a nice one.
    — Robert A. Cronkleton, kansascity, 3 May 2018
  • So how does the final month of the season shape up for the three teams?
    — Matthew Defranks, Dallas News, 9 Apr. 2021
  • Here’s how the race currently shapes up.
    — Dom Luszczyszyn, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2026
  • Here’s how the forecast is shaping up.
    — Tiffani Jackson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 May 2026
  • This is shaping up to be a big year for EVs.
    — James Morris, Forbes.com, 20 May 2026
  • This season could shape up to be the first trophy-less one in over a decade.
    — Emmet Gates, Forbes, 21 Apr. 2022
  • If so, get in Mayfield’s ear and tell him to shape up and play smarter.
    — Terry Pluto, cleveland, 9 Oct. 2021
  • And 2026 is shaping up to be the year to go.
    — Laura Begley Bloom, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
  • This is shaping up to be the cultural event of the year.
    — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 25 June 2026
  • This year is shaping up to be a huge one for dealmaking.
    — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 6 Mar. 2026
  • Saturday is shaping up to be quite cool and damp.
    — Cutter Martin, CBS News, 20 May 2026

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