as in categorized
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 pigeonholed
That’s hardly the only time Davis has been pigeonholed in her career.
—
Galina Espinoza, Flow Space, 10 Sep. 2025
After making Dances With Wolves, Greene told his agents to pursue other types of projects to ensure he wasn’t pigeonholed as a performer.
—Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 3 Sep. 2025
But Gaga has also been savvy enough not to be pigeonholed as just the avant-garde lady, though, opting for high elegance depending on the event.
—EW.com, 31 Aug. 2025
While men athletes often get pigeonholed into specific marketing lanes, women athletes naturally cross boundaries.
—Lindsey Darvin, Forbes.com, 13 Aug. 2025
We were really set on wanting this movie to have a certain amount of comedy timelessness, and so not getting pigeonholed in any one specific was really important for us.
—Ryan Gajewski, HollywoodReporter, 5 Aug. 2025
What sets Gupta apart is his refusal to be pigeonholed.
—Ritu Upadhyay, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
Galina Espinoza, Flow Space, 10 Sep. 2025
After making Dances With Wolves, Greene told his agents to pursue other types of projects to ensure he wasn’t pigeonholed as a performer.
—Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 3 Sep. 2025
But Gaga has also been savvy enough not to be pigeonholed as just the avant-garde lady, though, opting for high elegance depending on the event.
—EW.com, 31 Aug. 2025
While men athletes often get pigeonholed into specific marketing lanes, women athletes naturally cross boundaries.
—Lindsey Darvin, Forbes.com, 13 Aug. 2025
We were really set on wanting this movie to have a certain amount of comedy timelessness, and so not getting pigeonholed in any one specific was really important for us.
—Ryan Gajewski, HollywoodReporter, 5 Aug. 2025
What sets Gupta apart is his refusal to be pigeonholed.
—Ritu Upadhyay, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pigeonholed
Verb
-
Often overlooked and also categorized with fetishism (also known as axilism), armpits are sensitive to both light and firm touch.—
Essence,
Essence,
11 Sep. 2025
-
Landasoft emails show engineers frantically fixing a software bug to release hundreds of people categorized as high-risk.—
Sheryl Estrada,
Fortune,
9 Sep. 2025
Verb
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In the end, Sutton-Schulman won the Triangle Springs appeal, but Highmark classified L’s treatment at Menninger as two separate admissions.—
Duaa Eldeib,
ProPublica,
10 Sep. 2025
-
Where cancellation fees were once treated largely as compensation outside the scope of VAT, the Court has increasingly classified them as consideration for services and therefore taxable.—
Aleksandra Bal,
Forbes.com,
9 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
An obsession with cleanliness was one of the things my proud mother relegated to middle-class anxiety.—
Rachel Kushner,
New Yorker,
14 Sep. 2025
-
The basket of other updates will be relegated to an omni quarterly update.—
Zak Doffman,
Forbes.com,
13 Sep. 2025
Verb
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An explosion separated the Bell’s tail boom, main rotor, mast and transmission and sent the fuselage crashing into the ground.—
Alexandra Skores,
CNN Money,
12 Sep. 2025
-
As before, the Humane Editor uses a large central workspace subdivided into individual documents, here separated by backtick characters.—
Cameron Kaiser,
ArsTechnica,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Blake Lively previously identified Swift as a person in her orbit would have knowledge about discussions regarding working conditions on the set of the movie, produced by Wayfarer Studios.—
Winston Cho,
HollywoodReporter,
12 Sep. 2025
-
Bennett Lembke, a 34-year-old Caldwell resident, was arrested following a traffic stop in Thurston County, Washington, after Boise police identified him as the suspect and issued a warrant, the agency said in a news release Thursday evening.—
Alex Brizee,
Idaho Statesman,
12 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pigeonholed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pigeonholed. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
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