as in to form
to take on a definite form
this group of summer interns is shaping up to be one of the best we've ever hired
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to improve
to change one's behavior or character for the better
told his son that if he didn't shape up, he'd be grounded for a month
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of shape (up)
New Atlas, 9 Jan. 2026
The Chronology of Water starring Imogen Poots, and action-comedy Trap House from Amazon and Aura Films starring Dave Bautista, Bobby Canavale and Jack Champion, this is shaping up to be another banner year for the film division.
—Justin Kroll, Deadline, 9 Jan. 2026
The Chargers will bow out Sunday, after being reminded that the Mike Vrabel-Drake Maye Patriots are shaping up to be almost as difficult an obstacle as the Belichick-Brady bunch was … and the weather ain’t getting any warmer in Foxborough in January.
—Jim Alexander, Oc Register, 9 Jan. 2026
The Blue Jackets, who are last in the Eastern Conference heading into Thursday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights, are shaping up to be a seller instead of a buyer.
—Aaron Portzline, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for shape (up)
Verb
The brains of the operation shapes up as a Dimensity 7050 5G processor supported by 12 GB of system RAM (plus a further 24 GB of virtual memory if needed) and 256 GB of storage with microSD expansion to 2 TB.
—New Atlas, 9 Jan. 2026
The Chronology of Water starring Imogen Poots, and action-comedy Trap House from Amazon and Aura Films starring Dave Bautista, Bobby Canavale and Jack Champion, this is shaping up to be another banner year for the film division.
—Justin Kroll, Deadline, 9 Jan. 2026
The Chargers will bow out Sunday, after being reminded that the Mike Vrabel-Drake Maye Patriots are shaping up to be almost as difficult an obstacle as the Belichick-Brady bunch was … and the weather ain’t getting any warmer in Foxborough in January.
—Jim Alexander, Oc Register, 9 Jan. 2026
The Blue Jackets, who are last in the Eastern Conference heading into Thursday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights, are shaping up to be a seller instead of a buyer.
—Aaron Portzline, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for shape (up)
Cite this Entry
“Shape (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shape%20%28up%29. Accessed 15 Jan. 2026.
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