1
2
3
as in injustices
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 shafts
The mine shafts oblige them generously, particularly after a bender or a jilting.
—
Literary Hub, 5 Mar. 2026
That list includes several top-20 players and notables playing the brand’s popular iron shafts, such as Lydia Ko (KBS VX Lite 90) and Hye-Jin Choi (PGI 90).
—Scott Kramer, Forbes.com, 18 Jan. 2026
Its core structure includes a long spiral access tunnel, three vertical shafts, and two horizontal levels, reaching a depth of about 1,840 feet.
—Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 27 Dec. 2025
The condition of caskets, artifacts and human remains varied, said Stantec archeologist Ryan Peterson, noting that the number human remains found does not equal the number of grave shafts.
—Alexandria Burris, IndyStar, 14 Nov. 2025
Stairwells and elevator shafts acted like chimneys, and the absence of emergency lighting, signage and alternative exits prevented the safe evacuation of the hotel’s 238 guests, the indictment said.
—CNN Money, 31 Oct. 2025
In the past, some radioactive fallout has leaked from test shafts.
—Geoff Brumfiel, NPR, 30 Oct. 2025
Literary Hub, 5 Mar. 2026
That list includes several top-20 players and notables playing the brand’s popular iron shafts, such as Lydia Ko (KBS VX Lite 90) and Hye-Jin Choi (PGI 90).
—Scott Kramer, Forbes.com, 18 Jan. 2026
Its core structure includes a long spiral access tunnel, three vertical shafts, and two horizontal levels, reaching a depth of about 1,840 feet.
—Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 27 Dec. 2025
The condition of caskets, artifacts and human remains varied, said Stantec archeologist Ryan Peterson, noting that the number human remains found does not equal the number of grave shafts.
—Alexandria Burris, IndyStar, 14 Nov. 2025
Stairwells and elevator shafts acted like chimneys, and the absence of emergency lighting, signage and alternative exits prevented the safe evacuation of the hotel’s 238 guests, the indictment said.
—CNN Money, 31 Oct. 2025
In the past, some radioactive fallout has leaked from test shafts.
—Geoff Brumfiel, NPR, 30 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shafts
Noun
-
The beams would be far brighter than the full moon and, even if carefully pointed, would scatter in the atmosphere to be very bright off-beam, disrupting wildlife and effectively destroying the sky’s remaining natural beauty by erasing the stars from our sight.—
Phil Plait,
Scientific American,
6 Mar. 2026
-
Named after Austrian engineer Josef Melan, the design, which allowed for faster construction, incorporated arched steel beams supporting concrete arches that supported the bridge’s structure.—
IndyStar,
IndyStar,
6 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
But the calendar has turned, and the spears now point inward.—
Luca Evans,
Denver Post,
25 Feb. 2026
-
Other sufferers, however, who submitted entries to the 1983 Migraine Art Competition, depicted their pain in drawings and paintings of nails, needles, axes, ice picks, arrows, bolts, jaws, chisels, shivs, guns, red-hot spears, sledgehammers, devils, and long pins.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
24 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
These historical injustices cannot be separated from contemporary policy messaging.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
24 Feb. 2026
-
The Black Panthers were about rebellion and pointing out the injustices that occurred daily on the streets of the Black community.—
John Ramos,
CBS News,
19 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Patients can get an oral exam, X-rays, dentures, root canals, and more.—
Todd Feurer,
CBS News,
4 Mar. 2026
-
Bright streaks known as ejecta rays can be seen streaking away from young impact craters in Odendahl's photo, whose existence testifies to the incredible force unleashed in their creation.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
4 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Humans have been throwing javelins for a few hundred thousand years, yet performance has largely plateaued.—
R. Alexander Bentley,
The Conversation,
26 Feb. 2026
-
The Tofinu took refuge in the lagoons along the Bight of Benin, a core area of the slave trade, venturing forth in canoes with harpoons, javelins, and swords to fight off raiders from powerful nearby kingdoms.—
Laurent Dubois,
The Atlantic,
6 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
In 2020, a demand to redress historic wrongs grew following the murder of George Floyd and the national Black Lives Matter movement.—
Ara Rosenthal,
Mercury News,
6 Mar. 2026
-
The arc of a wrongful-conviction story bends toward exoneration and release—a flawed but heartening correction of past wrongs.—
Rachel Monroe,
New Yorker,
18 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Warhorses charge, lances down, crashing through the tilts as lances break on shields and men topple from their steeds.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
26 Jan. 2026
-
Three or four decades ago, the newspaperman was appealingly raffish—at once a bum who drank too much and a knight-errant who charged unafraid at social injustice, succored the weak, and crossed lances with the powerful and arrogant.—
David Wingrave,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Tim Pennington called again that evening, Bell said, to ask for prayers as his son's condition was worsening, and then later told him the soldier had succumbed to his injuries.—
ALLEN G. BREED,
Arkansas Online,
10 Mar. 2026
-
The driver of the car was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.—
Colleen Cronin,
Boston Herald,
10 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Shafts.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shafts. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
