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
Leibovitz has always resisted pigeonholing.
—
Y-Jean Mun-Delsalle, Forbes.com, 13 Aug. 2025
Y-Jean Mun-Delsalle, Forbes.com, 13 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pigeonholing
Verb
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Like Perec’s, Latronico’s novel is interested in categorizing a consumerist milieu.—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
25 Sep. 2025
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Auto-categorizing lines in Reminders lists Since iOS 17, Reminders has been able to automatically sort items in grocery lists into distinct categories, like Produce and Proteins.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
25 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Forecasters give Sherrill an advantage, with both the Cook Political Report and Sabato's Crystal Ball classifying the race as Leans Democrat.—
Andrew Stanton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Sep. 2025
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One example is neuron selectivity in neural networks for classifying images.—
Ben Brubaker,
Quanta Magazine,
24 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Mahomes’ connections with Tyquan Thornton secured the victory, relegating New York to their first 0-3 season since 2021.—
Kayla Hayempour,
NBC news,
22 Sep. 2025
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To make room, the 2025–26 campaign will promote two teams from the second tier while relegating just one through a new playoff system.—
Asli Pelit,
New York Times,
11 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The first and fifth-place finishes pushed Mercedes further ahead of Ferrari in the constructors’ standings, a 25-point gap separating the two.—
Madeline Coleman,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
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Poehler and Arnett welcomed two children together, sons Archie and Abel, before separating in 2012 and finalizing their divorce in 2016.—
Sophie Dodd,
PEOPLE,
7 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Avivi said that gathering information on Hamas terrorists and the organization’s structure has been an ongoing effort for years, including mapping platoons, companies, and battalions, as well as identifying commanders.—
Amelie Botbol,
FOXNews.com,
7 Oct. 2025
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Such ciphers are easy to crack using techniques such as checking letter frequency and identifying common patterns.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
7 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pigeonholing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pigeonholing. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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