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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Recent Examples of pigeonhole
Dash Lewis, Pitchfork, 24 Feb. 2026
At 46, Kate Hudson has secured a Best Actress Oscar nomination for Song Sung Blue, marking a dramatic career shift 25 years after her first nomination and years of being pigeonholed as Hollywood’s rom-com leading lady.
—Ryan Brennan, Charlotte Observer, 24 Feb. 2026
Jim Cramer, CNBC, 13 Apr. 2025
And to his credit, Leitch escapes that pigeonhole … only to get trapped in another.
—Will Leitch, Vulture, 8 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pigeonhole
Verb
In its opening moments, Blasé Saint seems easy to pigeonhole.
—Dash Lewis, Pitchfork, 24 Feb. 2026
At 46, Kate Hudson has secured a Best Actress Oscar nomination for Song Sung Blue, marking a dramatic career shift 25 years after her first nomination and years of being pigeonholed as Hollywood’s rom-com leading lady.
—Ryan Brennan, Charlotte Observer, 24 Feb. 2026
Noun
Dover is a company made up of a portfolio of different end markets and should not be held to a data center pigeonhole.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 13 Apr. 2025
And to his credit, Leitch escapes that pigeonhole … only to get trapped in another.
—Will Leitch, Vulture, 8 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pigeonhole
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pigeonhole
Verb
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Martinez is categorized as a super commuter, or someone who drives for 90 minutes or more to get to work.—
Kara St. Cyr,
CBS News,
9 Apr. 2026
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Meanwhile, because prediction market wagers are categorized differently than traditional forms of gambling, tensions about government oversight have erupted.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
9 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
How sweet the letters from Gita had been, arriving in his grad-school cubbyhole at Brooklyn Poly!—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 Mar. 2026
-
The captain instead had to remain up on the topside in the cubbyhole of his pilot house.—
Eric DuVall,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
17 Sep. 2025
Verb
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India is a critical market, with around 100 million people living with diabetes and nearly a quarter of the population classified as overweight or obese.—
Priyanka Salve,
CNBC,
10 Apr. 2026
-
While it could be argued that women’s health should simply be classified as health, the distinction helps highlight the longstanding disinvestment, Gilberg says.—
Alexa Mikhail,
Flow Space,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The interior renovation includes converting the office cubicles into approximately 399 apartments and 200 hotel rooms.—
Desiree Mathurin
April 8,
Charlotte Observer,
8 Apr. 2026
-
With the Doodler, the company sought to create something to liven up the average weekday inside the office cubicle.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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But eventually athleisure began to fade (as all trends do), and soon enough biker shorts were once again relegated to yoga studios and barre classes.—
Kelsey Stiegman,
Glamour,
8 Apr. 2026
-
While marketing used to be relegated almost exclusively to isolated campaigns and launch windows, the rapid and constant pace of today’s media has necessitated the development and use of new systems.—
Ernest Sturm,
Variety,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The three compartment sink was plugged with towels instead of drain plugs.—
Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado
April 10,
Sacbee.com,
10 Apr. 2026
-
To make these, cut the tubes to the height of your drawer, and line them up inside to create different compartments for pencils, scissors, rubber bands, and other supplies.—
Farima Ferguson,
The Spruce,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Zelenskyy didn't identify the countries involved but said Ukrainian personnel operated across several nations, helping strengthen their air defense systems.—
Brian Dakss,
CBS News,
11 Apr. 2026
-
Spain and China plan to sign an investment agreement during the three-day visit that begins Saturday, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private negotiations.—
Daniel Basteiro,
Bloomberg,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The first message investors and physicians in this space hope to send is that women’s health is — and never was — a niche.—
Alexa Mikhail,
Flow Space,
10 Apr. 2026
-
Meta debuted a new major AI model on Wednesday, its first since the costly hiring of Scale AI’s Alexandr Wang nine months ago, as the Facebook parent aims to carve out a niche in a market that’s being dominated by OpenAI, Anthropic and Google.—
Kai Nicol-Schwarz,
CNBC,
10 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pigeonhole.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pigeonhole. Accessed 15 Apr. 2026.
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