as in crammed
to fit (people or things) into a tight space
the organizers of the county fair shoehorned the craft booths between the midway and the farm exhibits
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Recent Examples of shoehorned
Since then, these standalone console titles have mostly disappeared, been shoehorned into an Ultimate Team mode or moved to mobile.
—
Dan Bernstein, Sportico.com, 14 Mar. 2026
That bill was watered down, however, and eventually got shoehorned into the one that passed Friday.
—Kristi Swartz, AJC.com, 7 Mar. 2026
Kevin isn’t any more random or inexplicably shoehorned into the story than Irene or Glem.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 20 Feb. 2026
In Short’s case, the flattening is particularly egregious, because the inchoate facts of her life are shoehorned into the obsessions of amateur sleuths who continue to get those facts wrong.
—Literary Hub, 29 Jan. 2026
Williams is being shoehorned into a rotation that’s suddenly getting more crowded, providing coach Charles Lee with a good problem in the health department for once.
—Roderick Boone, Charlotte Observer, 16 Jan. 2026
In typical Hollywood fashion, though, a spin on the concept just had to be shoehorned in here.
—Sergio Pereira, Space.com, 15 Jan. 2026
The special’s opening half-hour is a series of meaningful opening salvos like this, cannily shoehorned into catch-up anecdotes, each of them laying the groundwork for where Nanjiani ultimately wants the hour to land without tipping his hand in one direction or another.
—Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 19 Dec. 2025
Of course, that’s exactly what Governor Maura Healey and Mayor Michelle Wu and the developer want; A knockdown, drag out, talk radio donnybrook over a shelter being shoehorned into a tiny former nursing home nestled among a family neighborhood in the Holy Name parish.
—Lou Murray, Boston Herald, 29 Oct. 2025
Dan Bernstein, Sportico.com, 14 Mar. 2026
That bill was watered down, however, and eventually got shoehorned into the one that passed Friday.
—Kristi Swartz, AJC.com, 7 Mar. 2026
Kevin isn’t any more random or inexplicably shoehorned into the story than Irene or Glem.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 20 Feb. 2026
In Short’s case, the flattening is particularly egregious, because the inchoate facts of her life are shoehorned into the obsessions of amateur sleuths who continue to get those facts wrong.
—Literary Hub, 29 Jan. 2026
Williams is being shoehorned into a rotation that’s suddenly getting more crowded, providing coach Charles Lee with a good problem in the health department for once.
—Roderick Boone, Charlotte Observer, 16 Jan. 2026
In typical Hollywood fashion, though, a spin on the concept just had to be shoehorned in here.
—Sergio Pereira, Space.com, 15 Jan. 2026
The special’s opening half-hour is a series of meaningful opening salvos like this, cannily shoehorned into catch-up anecdotes, each of them laying the groundwork for where Nanjiani ultimately wants the hour to land without tipping his hand in one direction or another.
—Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 19 Dec. 2025
Of course, that’s exactly what Governor Maura Healey and Mayor Michelle Wu and the developer want; A knockdown, drag out, talk radio donnybrook over a shelter being shoehorned into a tiny former nursing home nestled among a family neighborhood in the Holy Name parish.
—Lou Murray, Boston Herald, 29 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shoehorned
Verb
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Juwelier Tschikof is a narrow shopfront crammed next to a boutique selling stationery, opposite a tobacconist.—
Simon Akam,
Vanity Fair,
2 Apr. 2026
-
The artist can be seen sleeping on a lounge chair in the foyer, the rest of her studio apartment crammed from floor to ceiling with art.—
Katherine Rochester,
Artforum,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Rori Harmon triple-double watch Harmon stuffed the stat sheet in the team’s Sweet 16 win over Kentucky and did more of the same against Michigan.—
Lawrence Dow,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
31 Mar. 2026
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At least 33 bodies — including children and dismembered remains stuffed in sacks — were unearthed from a mass grave in western Kenya on Thursday, raising questions about whether the corpses were secretly moved from a hospital morgue.—
Greg Wehner,
FOXNews.com,
29 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Some parents feel squeezed when gifted assets significantly appreciate, according to Robert Westley of Northern Trust.—
Hayley Cuccinello,
CNBC,
2 Apr. 2026
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Higher gas prices can also hurt sales inside the gas stations, if customers who are being squeezed at the pump spend less on other things.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
2 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Shoehorned.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shoehorned. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
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