1
as in to move
to change the place or position of
he shifted the vase closer to the wall so that it wouldn't get knocked over
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to twitch
to change one's position
she shifted uncomfortably in her seat throughout the interview
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to change
to pass from one form, state, or level to another
she watched the aurora in fascination as its colors shifted from green to blue
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in to exchange
to give up (something) and take something else in return
my brother and I shifted seats just before takeoff so that he could sit by the window
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5
as in to cope
to meet one's day-to-day needs
left the others to shift for themselves
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in means
an action planned or taken to achieve a desired result
desperate shifts to stave off financial disaster
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2
as in shifting
the act or an instance of changing position
made a small shift to the left to make more room on the bench
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of shift
Demetrius Patterson, HollywoodReporter, 27 Oct. 2025
Namely, revenues are falling as viewers have shifted away from cable and broadcast television towards streaming and the theatrical film business has yet to recover from Covid.
—Brent Lang, Variety, 27 Oct. 2025
Lauryn Higgins, Flow Space, 21 Oct. 2025
The desire to feel at peace about finances may prompt vocational shifts.
—Usa Today, USA Today, 21 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shift
Verb
The camera then shifts to show the coin is not alone on the train rail.
—Demetrius Patterson, HollywoodReporter, 27 Oct. 2025
Namely, revenues are falling as viewers have shifted away from cable and broadcast television towards streaming and the theatrical film business has yet to recover from Covid.
—Brent Lang, Variety, 27 Oct. 2025
Noun
The approach marks a shift toward anticipating cancer’s next move rather than reacting to it.
—Lauryn Higgins, Flow Space, 21 Oct. 2025
The desire to feel at peace about finances may prompt vocational shifts.
—Usa Today, USA Today, 21 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shift
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shift
Verb
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The buttery-soft fabric is lightweight and stretchy enough to move with you while still retaining its shape over time.—
Sophie Dodd,
Travel + Leisure,
26 Oct. 2025
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On top of that responsibility and stress, he was frustrated with the Blazers’ losing and his role moving forward.—
Jason Quick,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Her hand twitched from the heat.—
Zuzana Říhová,
Literary Hub,
26 Sep. 2025
-
Any dairy farmer can tell you that biting flies are a pestilent scourge for cattle herds, which is why one so often sees cows throwing their heads, stamping their feet, flicking their tails, and twitching their skin—desperately trying to shake off the nasty creatures.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
18 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
After the Supreme Court ruling, Holt said, the department changed its grooming policy to allow closely cropped beards.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
22 Oct. 2025
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Scripts are being changed now, Deadline reported, because the move was unexpected.—
Raechal Shewfelt,
Entertainment Weekly,
22 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The comments came as Israel and Hamas exchanged the bodies of captives, a key demand of the truce.—
Prashant Rao,
semafor.com,
22 Oct. 2025
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For their part, Max and Christian fight before docking and exchange some F-bombs on the bow just for good measure.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
In a viral TikTok video, a woman from Boston, Massachusetts, shows what her golden retriever did after a long weekend of being the center of attention at her wedding, and internet users can’t cope with it.—
Maria Azzurra Volpe,
MSNBC Newsweek,
22 Oct. 2025
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What emotional or mental coping strategies were most helpful for you during this period?—
Hannah Nwoko,
Parents,
21 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Smokeless tobacco is considered anything from snuff, snus, chewing tobacco, moist snuff and any other tobacco intended to be used or consumed by any means.—
Dana Afana,
Freep.com,
22 Oct. 2025
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The administration has argued its work is a long-overdue means of rooting out waste, fraud and abuse.—
Jessie Opoien,
jsonline.com,
22 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The shifting of hair hairstyles.—
Donnetta Monk,
Essence,
24 Oct. 2025
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Such unsupervised conversational shape-shifting would make this rogue Humbert particularly charismatic.—
Vauhini Vara,
The Atlantic,
16 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
If Doan’s Coyotes records were treated the same way Hawerchuk’s Jets records were, moving from one city to the next as a franchise relocated, then Utah Mammoth star Clayton Keller would be chasing him.—
Murat Ates,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
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Dinosaur mummy zone Senior author of the study, Paul Sereno, PhD, Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy at the University of Chicago, and his team relocated the sites in east-central Wyoming where several famous dinosaur mummies were discovered in the early 20th century.—
Abhishek Bhardwaj,
Interesting Engineering,
24 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Shift.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shift. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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