shoehorned

verb

past tense of shoehorn
as in crammed
to fit (people or things) into a tight space the organizers of the county fair shoehorned the craft booths between the midway and the farm exhibits

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of shoehorned While the non-prerecorded vocals were appreciated, his ballad felt oddly shoehorned into what was otherwise a vigorous, energetic halftime. — Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 19 July 2026 Too often, modern technologies, like inter-device connectivity and artificial intelligence, are shoehorned into gadgets that would be more intuitive to use, affordable, accessible, and/or durable without them. — ArsTechnica, 18 May 2026 Learning cannot be condensed into an accelerated course, shoehorned into a semester calendar, rushed and prodded along. — Peter Wayne Moe, Longreads, 26 Mar. 2026 Since then, these standalone console titles have mostly disappeared, been shoehorned into an Ultimate Team mode or moved to mobile. — Dan Bernstein, Sportico.com, 14 Mar. 2026 That bill was watered down, however, and eventually got shoehorned into the one that passed Friday. — Kristi Swartz, AJC.com, 7 Mar. 2026 Kevin isn’t any more random or inexplicably shoehorned into the story than Irene or Glem. — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 20 Feb. 2026 In Short’s case, the flattening is particularly egregious, because the inchoate facts of her life are shoehorned into the obsessions of amateur sleuths who continue to get those facts wrong. — Literary Hub, 29 Jan. 2026 Williams is being shoehorned into a rotation that’s suddenly getting more crowded, providing coach Charles Lee with a good problem in the health department for once. — Roderick Boone, Charlotte Observer, 16 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shoehorned
  1. crammed
  2. stuffed
  3. squeezed
Verb
  • While today’s cinema listings are crammed with sequels and remakes, with the watching experience couched in discourse and then discourse about the discourse, the best ’90s films were for the most part true originals.
    — Daisy Jones, Vogue, 24 Oct. 2026
  • This 1478 piece set is essentially two dioramas crammed into a single display piece.
    — Ian Stokes, Space.com, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of crammed
Verb
  • The Lions went for it on fourth-and-1 from their own 24 but were stuffed on a run.
    — Rohan Nadkarni, NBC news, 26 Oct. 2026
  • The Cougars stuffed all the ways Utah likes to run the ball until Dampier took matters into his own hands and posted a season high in rushing in electrifying style.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of stuffed
Verb
  • Yet profits have still been squeezed as jet fuel prices surged roughly 90% since the US-Israeli war on Iran began in February, forcing several major carriers to cut earnings forecasts.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Meanwhile, free cash flow at another budget carrier, JetBlue Airways, remains severely squeezed by elevated jet fuel prices.
    — , CNBC, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of squeezed

Browse Nearby Words

shoehorn
shoehorned
shoehorning
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Cite this Entry

“Shoehorned.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shoehorned. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

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