as in to categorize
disapproving
to unfairly think of or describe (someone or something) as belonging to only a certain category
She likes to perform different types of music because she doesn't want to be pigeonholed.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pigeonhole
Calum Marsh, New York Times, 9 Apr. 2025
From indie horror films to action comedies and offbeat spy spoofs, from the intensity of Tombstone to the surrealism of The Island of Dr. Moreau with co-star Marlon Brando, Kilmer defied pigeonholing.
—Jeetendr Sehdev, Forbes.com, 2 Apr. 2025
Will Leitch, Vulture, 24 June 2024
And even those films starring endlessly reincarnating supernatural psycho slashers chasing nubile coeds aren’t so simple to pigeonhole politically.
—David Colman, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for pigeonhole
Verb
Still, the Harmons expressed some frustration with being pigeonholed as a Christian movie studio.
—Calum Marsh, New York Times, 9 Apr. 2025
From indie horror films to action comedies and offbeat spy spoofs, from the intensity of Tombstone to the surrealism of The Island of Dr. Moreau with co-star Marlon Brando, Kilmer defied pigeonholing.
—Jeetendr Sehdev, Forbes.com, 2 Apr. 2025
Noun
And to his credit, Leitch escapes that pigeonhole … only to get trapped in another.
—Will Leitch, Vulture, 24 June 2024
And even those films starring endlessly reincarnating supernatural psycho slashers chasing nubile coeds aren’t so simple to pigeonhole politically.
—David Colman, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for pigeonhole
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pigeonhole
Verb
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This led us to examine the similarities and themes that could be used to categorize these 37 sports industry revenue segments into an organizational structure.—
Dennis Howard,
Sportico.com,
19 June 2025
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Doctors categorize it as early, middle, or late based on affected cognitive areas and support needed, aiding future planning.—
Nawab John Dar,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
18 June 2025
Noun
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The narrow, shaded Via Santa Maria della Pietà is Neapolitan-esque in its air of ancient mystery, with big arched doorways to houses and glimpses into tiny barber shops and a cubbyhole tattoo parlor.—
Rebecca Ann Hughes,
Forbes.com,
18 June 2025
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At the top of the Guggenheim’s ramp, the upper level is dedicated to a sprawling installation of open cubic shelves that look like highly refined cubbyholes.—
Vinson Cunningham,
New Yorker,
30 May 2025
Verb
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This component classifies requests and forwards to the WAF just the ones needing inspection, such as dynamic content requests, and offloads the WAF by caching responses.—
Alexander Krizhanovsky,
Forbes.com,
23 June 2025
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The shooting now classified as a-homicide was the third killing reported during a violent weekend in Kansas City, as temperatures soared above 90 degrees across the region.—
Ilana Arougheti,
Kansas City Star,
22 June 2025
Noun
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After being escorted to the separate room and led a few doors down, Padilla raised his hands in front of his chest as the agents marched him past an office cubicle and down a hallway, a video taken by a member of Padilla’s staff and shared with The Times showed.—
Christopher Buchanan,
Los Angeles Times,
12 June 2025
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But then, like an exhausted and grumpy cubicle worker at the end of a long shift, Claude too begins to peter out.—
Kevin Williams,
CNBC,
3 June 2025
Verb
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Southampton were relegated from the Premier League in April with seven games remaining.—
Cerys Jones,
New York Times,
19 June 2025
-
The other half, the humanistic component that transforms good organizations into great ones and sustainable success into legacy, has been relegated to the background, often dismissed as too soft, too unmeasurable, or too idealistic for serious business consideration.—
Cornelia C. Walther,
Forbes.com,
15 June 2025
Noun
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Through the night, several of them allegedly followed the southbound Brink’s truck, which was piloted by one driver while another dozed in the vehicle’s sleeping compartment.—
Daniel Miller,
Los Angeles Times,
17 June 2025
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The main compartment has two shelves worth of storage that are 18 inches deep and 9 inches tall.—
Ali Faccenda,
People.com,
16 June 2025
Verb
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In a game where the Angels and Nationals combined for 24 runs and 30 hits — with the 19 hits and 15 runs given up by the Angels’ pitching staff representing season-worst marks — what ultimately separated the teams was the Angels’ inability to come through with runners on base.—
Benjamin Royer,
Los Angeles Times,
28 June 2025
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Jun-ho shoots the glass separating the VIPs’ watch tower from the game arena, getting In-ho’s attention.—
Kayti Burt,
Time,
27 June 2025
Noun
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Given the scale of the problem, nuclear concerns can no longer be treated as a niche issue managed by a small community of experts.—
VIPIN NARANG,
Foreign Affairs,
24 June 2025
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Forums like Reddit, niche communities, technical Q&A sites and public newsletters are becoming valuable sources for both real-time conversations and training data.—
Pawel Rzeszucinski,
Forbes.com,
24 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pigeonhole.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pigeonhole. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.
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