as in defeat
failure to win a contest
suffered a shellacking at the hands of a vastly superior opposition
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in whipping
to defeat by a large margin
the local football team was shellacked 35-0 in their final outing for the season
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of shellacking
Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Oct. 2025
Roosevelt has scored 88 points in its last two games, including a 40-22 shellacking of 4A Ponderosa.
—Matt Schubert, Denver Post, 24 Sep. 2025
Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 8 Nov. 2025
While Cincinnati’s visit to Detroit was one of the more intriguing matchups on the fall calendar, the loss of Joe Burrow and the Bengals’ subsequent 48-10 shellacking under the horns of the Vikings have made the team a liability of sorts.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 3 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shellacking
Noun
Following a two-week international break, Pellegrino started at Portland last week and scored twice more in a 4-0 shellacking that gave SDFC the Western Conference title.
—Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Oct. 2025
Roosevelt has scored 88 points in its last two games, including a 40-22 shellacking of 4A Ponderosa.
—Matt Schubert, Denver Post, 24 Sep. 2025
Verb
And it certainly can be noticed, both in its abundance, and in the case of the Warriors’ 129-104 shellacking on Friday night at the hands of the Nuggets in an Emirates Cup group stage matchup, in its absence.
—Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 8 Nov. 2025
While Cincinnati’s visit to Detroit was one of the more intriguing matchups on the fall calendar, the loss of Joe Burrow and the Bengals’ subsequent 48-10 shellacking under the horns of the Vikings have made the team a liability of sorts.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 3 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shellacking
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shellacking
Noun
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Tuesday’s 83-79 overtime loss to Washington in the Big Ten tournament, the Trojans’ eighth straight defeat, brought to a close what USC coach Eric Musselman called the toughest stretch of his coaching career.—
Assistant Sports Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
12 Mar. 2026
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Porro and Van de Ven appeared to clash with the away fans following January’s defeat by Bournemouth.—
Jay Harris,
New York Times,
12 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Taylor also weighed in on keeping her cool on stage when things go wrong, such as embracing her wig flying off and whipping it around her head, the proper form for double-dutching and having patience in Hollywood.—
Gil Kaufman,
Billboard,
26 Feb. 2026
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Though both storms are similar — with a major storm system lingering over the region for over a day and whipping the region with merciless hurricane-level winds, driving inch after inch of wet snow — what made the 1978 storm so devastating was the apparent suddenness of its arrival.—
Doyle Rice,
USA Today,
24 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Mavs rookie Cooper Flagg was assessed the first technical foul of his NBA career during Dallas’ loss to the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.—
R.J. Coyle,
Dallas Morning News,
9 Mar. 2026
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Detroit is in the middle of a rough patch with four straight losses, but still holds the East’s top record at 45-18.—
Anthony Chiang,
Miami Herald,
9 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Meanwhile, Israel has also been relentlessly bombing Lebanon, with the intention of disarming or wiping out Hezbollah, a paramilitary group backed by Iran which fired rockets at Israel earlier in the war.—
Isaac Chotiner,
New Yorker,
11 Mar. 2026
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The gatherings came in the wake of the United States and Israel launching a joint war against Iran at the end of last month, bombing several sites and killing high-ranking officials in the country’s government, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.—
Caelyn Pender,
Mercury News,
8 Mar. 2026
Noun
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You are brought to your senses, this time by squawking and the rapid beating of wings.—
Addie Citchens,
New Yorker,
8 Mar. 2026
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Meanwhile the Tritons’ men’s team was still talking Sunday of the five-second, court-length dash that resulted in Jaden Vance’s buzzer-beating, game-winning layin to give UCSD a 64-63 win at UC Santa Barbara.—
Bill Center,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The mighty Mariners, who mashed five solo home runs at raucous T-Mobile Park, clinched their title by drubbing Major League Baseball’s doormat, aka the Colorado Rockies, 9-2.—
Patrick Saunders,
Denver Post,
25 Sep. 2025
Noun
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There was no shortage of setbacks for stocks last week.—
Morgan Chittum,
CNBC,
7 Mar. 2026
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The Tigers handed previously unbeaten Austin Westlake its first setback of the season, taking control with a second-quarter surge and never letting up on the way to a 51-37 triumph Saturday in the UIL Class 6A Division II state final at the Alamodome.—
Terrence Thomas,
Dallas Morning News,
7 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Whether a brave, thrilling but ultimately unsuccessful attempt at overcoming a seemingly impossible target of 254 to beat India and reach the T20 World Cup final will be enough to make up for England’s desperately disappointing winter.—
Paul Newman,
New York Times,
5 Mar. 2026
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His big struggle was overcoming the same challenge most pitchers face after a long layoff.—
Kevin Acee,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
4 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Shellacking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shellacking. Accessed 13 Mar. 2026.
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