as in new
taking the place of one that came before
turned a towel into a makeshift skirt
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
make shift
3 of 3phrase
as in cope
to meet one's day-to-day needs
They were able to make shift without borrowing money.
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 makeshift
ABC News,
27 June 2026
People turned the parking lot of a pharmacy into makeshift shelter by setting up tarps, hammocks and tents.
—
Arkansas Online,
27 June 2026
Meanwhile, the Kremlin has been unable to defend against all of Ukraine’s drone attacks, forcing companies to spend more than $1 billion of their own money on makeshift protection.
—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
27 June 2026
Overnight, thousands of people who lost their homes slept outdoors, sheltering in tents or sleeping on benches and makeshift beds after being displaced by the disaster.
—
Nicole Acevedo,
NBC news,
26 June 2026
One is also used to construct a makeshift football by the young lead in this scrappy, pan-African adventure.
—
Jon O'Brien,
Vulture,
26 June 2026
Families have set up makeshift camps on sidewalks, plazas, sports courts and road medians, sleeping on mattresses, sheets, folding chairs and in improvised tents.
—
Antonio María Delgado,
Miami Herald,
26 June 2026
Schools and sports stadiums have turned into makeshift shelters, hosting those who lost their homes.
—
Uriel Blanco,
CNN Money,
26 June 2026
Others are living in makeshift camps.
—
Tirana Hassan,
Time,
26 June 2026
Adjective
The parking lot of a pharmacy turned into a makeshift shelter with tarps, hammocks and tents.
—
ABC News,
27 June 2026
People turned the parking lot of a pharmacy into makeshift shelter by setting up tarps, hammocks and tents.
—
Arkansas Online,
27 June 2026
Meanwhile, the Kremlin has been unable to defend against all of Ukraine’s drone attacks, forcing companies to spend more than $1 billion of their own money on makeshift protection.
—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
27 June 2026
Overnight, thousands of people who lost their homes slept outdoors, sheltering in tents or sleeping on benches and makeshift beds after being displaced by the disaster.
—
Nicole Acevedo,
NBC news,
26 June 2026
One is also used to construct a makeshift football by the young lead in this scrappy, pan-African adventure.
—
Jon O'Brien,
Vulture,
26 June 2026
Families have set up makeshift camps on sidewalks, plazas, sports courts and road medians, sleeping on mattresses, sheets, folding chairs and in improvised tents.
—
Antonio María Delgado,
Miami Herald,
26 June 2026
Schools and sports stadiums have turned into makeshift shelters, hosting those who lost their homes.
—
Uriel Blanco,
CNN Money,
26 June 2026
Others are living in makeshift camps.
—
Tirana Hassan,
Time,
26 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for makeshift
Adjective
-
Karen Derrico was accused of threatening to kill her ex-husband, Deon Derrico, and their children in a new criminal complaint.
-
Pochettino fielded nine new starters for this low-stakes game, but Christian Pulisic entered in the 58th minute.
Noun
-
Koulibaly misjudged a clearance and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy was unable to keep out substitute Marcus Pedersen’s rasping shot to give Norway the lead close to halftime.
-
Goldman Sachs recently highlighted this complexity by describing AI as both a complement and a substitute for labor depending upon the nature of the work involved.
Adjective
-
The warning came after a key naval information group had proposed alternative shipping corridors on Saturday, asking shipowners to consider transiting the strait along the southern route with their transponder signals on.
-
The White House’s Iran negotiations rely on the dollar’s leverage, but Tehran has blunted that weapon by using alternative financial architecture, The Wall Street Journal reported, including payments in yuan or cryptocurrency, and adopting a Chinese alternative to the Swift banking network.
Noun
-
Pretoria has set aside a 750 million rand ($45 million) stopgap allocation to keep clinics open, protect HIV/AIDS treatment, and revive clinical research trials — less than 10% of what Washington used to inject into the system annually.
-
The bureau’s most recent projections, released Tuesday, show that the emergency measures taken this spring will only be a stopgap, unless extremely wet weather returns.
Adjective
-
The Ports, who played as their alternate Copa de la Diversión name, the Cheladas, also gave an option to give dad a shout-out on the jumbotron during a game where the Cheladas shut out the Visalia Rawhide, 8-0.
-
Fish swim by alternate contractions of aerobic muscles that run the length of their bodies in a small red band just under their skin, while their large white anaerobic muscles are used only for brief bursts.
Noun
-
Rounding out the room is interior backup Mike Caliendo, whom Reid has often said the Chiefs view as a starter.
-
But Castle brought backup this time, and Esposito (Jon Huertas) takes out Tyson through a window.
Adjective
-
Barnacles, mussels, clams, algae and other warm-seawater-dwelling fauna and flora have latched onto oil tankers hundreds of massive oil tankers anchored in the Persian Gulf over the past several months.
-
This handheld vacuum has a lightweight design and strong suction to clean debris in hard-to-reach areas behind the couch, in the car, and other hard-to-reach areas.
Cite this Entry
“Makeshift.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/makeshift. Accessed 28 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
