SHAFT Synonyms: 45 Similar and Opposite Words

shaft

noun

ˈshaft

as in beam

a narrow sharply defined line of light radiating from an object shafts of late-afternoon sunlight pierced the blinds and streaked the floor

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as in spear

a weapon with a long straight handle and sharp head or blade the footmen set their shafts so as to form a bank of steel against the enemy's charging cavalry

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as in injustice

unfair or inadequate treatment of someone or something or an instance of this the homeowners who were bought out are convinced they got the shaft in that deal

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of shaft While rare earths will be the primary focus, exploration will also assess the potential for gold mining — the area is dotted with old, small-scale adits and shafts. —

Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2026 Reduce frizz, add shine, and offer your curls a soft, flexible hold with Bumble and Bumble's Curl Defining Styling Cream, which should be scrunched into wet hair from mid-shaft to ends before air drying or diffusing. —

Lily Wohlner, Allure, 25 Mar. 2026 Once the ends of your hair shaft have split, there’s no way to rejoin the hair. —

Danielle Sinay, Glamour, 23 Mar. 2026 In his opening remarks, committee lead lawyer Victor Dawes said the likeliest cause of the fire was that cigarettes lit other materials on fire on a platform in an air shaft between two low-level units in Wang Cheong House. —

Arkansas Online, 20 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for shaft

Recent Examples of Synonyms for shaft

Noun

The cost of the six-story hotel with its Spanish Colonial Revival architecture came in at nearly $1 million, or more than $18 million in today’s money, and featured marble floors, private baths, steel beams, and an electric elevator.

— Susan B. Barnes, Southern Living, 10 Apr. 2026
Puryear has created an outdoor sculpture to honor the late civil rights activist and congressman John Lewis via Bending the Arc, a 34-foot-long beam that Puryear hand-carved in wood and then was 3D-scanned and fabricated in stainless steel.

— Maximilíano Durón, ARTnews.com, 10 Apr. 2026