Synonyms of shelled out

shelled out

verb

past tense of shell out

as in paid

to hand over or use up in payment

we shelled out an obscene amount of money for those concert tickets

Synonyms & Similar Words

• paid
• spent
• forked (over, out, or up)
• laid out
• gave
• expended
• disbursed
• ran through
• outlaid
• dropped
• threw away
• rained
• frittered (away)
• wasted
• lavished
• squandered
• dissipated
• blew

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• saved
• made
• laid up
• acquired
• realized
• secured
• cached
• earned
• won
• procured
• gained
• hoarded
• garnered

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of shelled out

Yes, the suspiciously delicious chicken shelled out at mall food courts on toothpicks is most likely bourbon chicken. — Jesse Szewczyk, Bon Appetit Magazine, 13 Oct. 2026

And the men who have shelled out between $2,100 and $20,000 for various tiers of tickets to SlutCon, most of whom worked in tech or engineering, are here to learn. — Nicholas Clairmont, Air Mail, 10 Oct. 2026

The city of Los Angeles has shelled out nearly $480 million over the last seven and a half years to end legal disputes involving the LAPD, according to a Times analysis. — Sean Greene, Los Angeles Times, 9 Oct. 2026

That would be a strong result had Amazon MGM Studios not shelled out $40 million to buy the film and tens of millions more to market it. — Brent Lang, IndieWire, 4 Oct. 2026

The event, meant to bow in early December, historically has shelled out millions to lure top talent like Will Smith, Gwyneth Paltrow, Michelle Williams and Halle Berry. — Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 30 Sep. 2026

The two favorites according to DraftKings—the Panthers and 2026 champion Carolina Hurricanes, each with +650 odds—haven’t shelled out big bucks to any players. — Lev Akabas, Sportico.com, 29 Sep. 2026

The space agency shelled out billions of dollars to Boeing as well as SpaceX for ferry service once the space shuttles retired. — Marcia Dunn, Fortune, 28 Sep. 2026

And Meta shelled out $14 billion in 2025 for a minority stake in Scale AI in a deal that brought in the startup’s founder, Alexandr Wang, to spin up a new AI division. — Kif Leswing, CNBC, 28 Sep. 2026