make-do 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of make-donext
as in makeshift

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Dissimilar Words

make do

2 of 2

phrase

as in cope
to meet one's day-to-day needs She could make do just fine and didn't need anyone's help.

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 make-do
Adjective
Yet even this make-do meal felt extravagant. — Reem Kassis, The Atlantic, 11 Oct. 2025 The show has a punk rock, garage band, DIY, mix tape, basement, make-do sensibility, flowing from the band and album inspiring its title. — Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 24 June 2025
Phrase
That made the dramatic conclusion even more difficult when Higgins was sidelined with an injury, forcing Burrow to make do with Mitchell Tinsley and Dohnte Meyers. — Zak Keefer, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026 Last year’s installment was five months late, Johnson said, and the district considered borrowing to make do. — A.d. Quig, Chicago Tribune, 20 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for make-do
Recent Examples of Synonyms for make-do
  1. makeshift
  2. make ends meet
  3. backup
  4. substitute
  5. stopgap
Adjective
  • Most of the people arriving from Cuba at the height of the influx in 2022 and 2023 came in groups on makeshift vessels, not by smugglers.
    — David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 29 Oct. 2026
  • Some injured passengers and crew members were taken to a sports hall as makeshift emergency stations were set up, Manuel Galán, the mayor ​of ​Urda near the ​city of Toledo, said, per The Guardian.
    — Angel Saunders, PEOPLE, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of makeshift
Phrase
  • Her husband started selling his collection of vintage rock band T-shirts online to help make ends meet.
    — Amy L. Wong, Washington Post, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Banbury is a traditional farmer who is really about making ends meet.
    — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of make ends meet
Adjective
  • Safety relies on plain physics rather than emergency backup generators.
    — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 4 Nov. 2026
  • Spears and Federline, her former backup dancer, married on September 18, 2004.
    — Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of backup
Adjective
  • Six nonverbal autistic students were missing for hours before arriving at a Brooklyn school more than four hours late after a substitute bus driver got lost, according to a city investigation.
    — Doug Williams, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
  • With zero acting gigs on the horizon and weary of taking handouts from Tori, Trina returns to Hollywood Arts for a substitute teaching position.
    — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of substitute
Adjective
  • This is, after all, an institution that frequently has trouble passing stopgap spending bills and conducting routine legislative business.
    — John T. Shaw, Chicago Tribune, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Both opponents were clearly in a transition period, quarterbacked by stopgap veterans in Jacoby Brissett and Kirk Cousins, respectively.
    — Saad Yousuf, New York Times, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of stopgap

Browse Nearby Words

make common cause
make-do
make do
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Make-do.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/make-do. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

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