as in categorizing
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 pigeonholing
The broader appeal and usefulness of the Dashaway eCT are just too dramatic to dedicate more time pigeonholing himself into a restrictive niche.
—
New Atlas, 28 Oct. 2025
Leibovitz has always resisted pigeonholing.
—Y-Jean Mun-Delsalle, Forbes.com, 13 Aug. 2025
New Atlas, 28 Oct. 2025
Leibovitz has always resisted pigeonholing.
—Y-Jean Mun-Delsalle, Forbes.com, 13 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pigeonholing
Verb
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The committee spent four months categorizing, typing, and then proofreading 750 handwritten recipes to create the manuscript.—
Adrian Miller,
Southern Living,
28 Oct. 2025
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Like Perec’s, Latronico’s novel is interested in categorizing a consumerist milieu.—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
25 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Related Stories In a nutsell, the test arranged by the cutter’s union documented that AI tools are great for organizing, classifying and summarizing.—
Cynthia Littleton,
Variety,
16 Oct. 2025
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Cal Fire updated Saratoga’s Fire Hazard Severity Zone map in June, classifying some southwestern portions of the city as moderate or high fire hazard zones.—
Nollyanne Delacruz,
Mercury News,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
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But the administration has turned its focus to largely urban areas instead of waterways, relegating the Coast Guard to a supporting role.—
Andy Rose 19 hr ago,
CNN Money,
9 Nov. 2025
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But bubbly, unstrategic, free-spirited Tallulah also has a tendency to suck up all the oxygen in a city, relegating Maia to the role of sidekick.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
30 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Great Again slogan appears just below the line separating overt and covert white supremacy.—
Cate Charron,
IndyStar,
11 Nov. 2025
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Additionally, parchment is often used for storage purposes, separating layers of baked goods like cookies or brownies to prevent them from sticking together.—
Katie Rosenhouse,
Southern Living,
10 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Alabama has heard the rumors of Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables and his staff being good at identifying signs that opposing offenses use.—
Jordan Sigler,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Nov. 2025
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The discovery helped open the door to more recent developments such as tinkering with the genetic makeup of living things, treating disease by inserting genes into patients, identifying human remains and criminal suspects from DNA samples, and tracing family trees and ancient human ancestors.—
Orianna Rosa Royle,
Fortune,
9 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pigeonholing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pigeonholing. Accessed 16 Nov. 2025.
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