as in dime
a very small sum of money
trying to start a business on a shoestring
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in spindly
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of shoestring
Erik Kirschbaum, Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep. 2021
Recent polls show that public opinion of Trump is souring as former Vice President Joe Biden pulls ahead in crucial swing states, despite a shoestring campaign and self-confinement to his Delaware home.
—Justin Sink, Bloomberg.com, 12 May 2020
Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 11 Sep. 2025
The shoestring staff is mostly administrative and the paper itself — once a legitimate news operation 50 years ago — now only exists as a tiny subsidiary of a company that otherwise makes its profits from the sale of toilet paper.
—Nina Metz Chicago Tribune, Boston Herald, 5 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shoestring
Noun
The nonpartisan Wahl-O-Mat runs on a shoestring annual budget of 100,000 euros, or $120,000, with just three staff members under the aegis of the federal agency for civic education (BPB), Pamela Brandt, project manager since 2004, said in an interview.
—Erik Kirschbaum, Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep. 2021
Recent polls show that public opinion of Trump is souring as former Vice President Joe Biden pulls ahead in crucial swing states, despite a shoestring campaign and self-confinement to his Delaware home.
—Justin Sink, Bloomberg.com, 12 May 2020
Adjective
What started as a shoestring campus operation snowballed into a right-wing powerhouse.
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 11 Sep. 2025
The shoestring staff is mostly administrative and the paper itself — once a legitimate news operation 50 years ago — now only exists as a tiny subsidiary of a company that otherwise makes its profits from the sale of toilet paper.
—Nina Metz Chicago Tribune, Boston Herald, 5 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shoestring
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shoestring
Noun
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But while remakes are a dime a dozen for cinema, video games have long done the same, if not more.—
George Yang,
Rolling Stone,
30 Sep. 2025
-
Narratives turn on a dime this time of year.—
Fabian Ardaya,
New York Times,
30 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The setting’s gravity is also reflected in the music: Bates includes haunting strings, spindly mandolin, and gritty analog synthesizers, along with Wagnerian tubas, a nod to Adolf Hitler’s composer of choice.—
Jane Bua,
New Yorker,
19 Sep. 2025
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Evolution has adapted the digits of mammals for an enormous range of uses, from our opposable thumbs to the spindly digits that support bat wings to the robust bones that support the hoofs of horses.—
John Timmer,
ArsTechnica,
17 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Using the hook attachment, beat on medium until dough is smooth and elastic but stringy, 5 minutes.—
Erin Hooker,
Better Homes & Gardens,
25 Sep. 2025
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In the dressing room, after applying lipstick and rouge, Kaliardos plopped a wig of long, stringy brown hair on Costanzo’s head.—
Henry Alford,
New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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There are also planets like WASP-193b, which is larger than Jupiter but light and wispy like cotton candy, and inhospitable worlds like WASP-107b, where sandy clouds high in the atmosphere fall like rain onto the surface.—
Eric Lagatta,
USA Today,
22 Sep. 2025
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Their long, narrow wings and forked tails stand out against wispy clouds and the sun, which is surrounded by a bright halo.—
Cecilia Rodriguez,
Forbes.com,
18 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Soften the twiggy grapevine with sprigs of feathery broomcorn seed heads tucked between the garland stems.—
Maria Sabella,
Better Homes & Gardens,
17 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The lanky midfielder impacted the game by always being in the right place, rarely making mistakes, keeping the game simple with neat, tidy ball recoveries and pinpoint passes through spaces others rarely saw.—
Michelle Kaufman,
Miami Herald,
26 Sep. 2025
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The lanky, smooth-skating center has also worked out in previous offseasons with Nathan MacKinnon, another vital member of Colorado’s leadership group who wholeheartedly endorsed Nelson’s arrival and the idea of keeping him.—
Corey Masisak,
Denver Post,
15 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Her willowy frame takes a tremendous battering as brutes slam her into tables and through walls.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
5 June 2025
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Only two bodies remain still: Ferran’s, in one corner of the platform, and that of a young man (Jabez Sykes) diagonally across from her, tall and willowy and pale — two statues that seem moonlit while the rest of the world writhes and sweats around them.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
11 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Then, there’s a creepy, reedy Charlie Plummer doing his best Caleb Landry Jones as Gary, #5, who goads other players into shedding down to their weakest points to eliminate them.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
11 Sep. 2025
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Mount developed his characterization, with his reedy voice, suspicious eyes and slumped posture, on set.—
Lauren Coates,
Variety,
4 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Shoestring.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shoestring. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.
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