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
Katie Kilkenny, HollywoodReporter, 17 Sep. 2025
Desperado, basically a remake of Rodriguez’s Spanish-language El Mariachi, is one of the very best shoestring-budget action movies out there.
—Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 13 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
The union’s message emphasizes how traditional Hollywood unions are beginning to take notice of verticals, though many are produced on shoestring budgets and with such elementary scripts that viewers have wondered if they are produced by generative AI.
—Katie Kilkenny, HollywoodReporter, 17 Sep. 2025
Desperado, basically a remake of Rodriguez’s Spanish-language El Mariachi, is one of the very best shoestring-budget action movies out there.
—Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 13 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shoestring
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shoestring
Noun
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And, things can turn on a dime, so hug those kiddos extra tight!—
Melissa Willets,
Parents,
14 Oct. 2025
-
Keaton could turn on a dime—from despair to neutral observation of the situation and her place in it.—
Hilton Als,
New Yorker,
13 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Now, the 36-year-old grower, who inherited the generational plot from his father, can only wave his arm dejectedly at row after row of weak, spindly stems, the result of catastrophic floods that swept the South Asian nation’s agricultural heartland to a degree not experienced in three decades.—
Jasmin Malik Chua,
Sourcing Journal,
7 Oct. 2025
-
The spindly, 18-inch-tall stalk has tiny white flowers.—
Megan Hughes,
Better Homes & Gardens,
4 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Wash the stringy fiber off the seeds in the sink.—
Jalen Williams,
Freep.com,
13 Oct. 2025
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Beneath the see-through number, a stringy black thong was visible.—
Skyler Caruso,
PEOPLE,
3 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The actress wore a gem and pearl encrusted body suit with a plunging neckline beneath a wispy, long-sleeve coat accented by further beaded embroidery throughout.—
Julia Teti,
Footwear News,
16 Oct. 2025
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In the hair department, the Skims founder kept things simple, with her pixie style combed forward and her wispy bangs falling neatly over her face.—
Edward Segarra,
USA Today,
6 Oct. 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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Earlier in the two-time MVP’s career, at-the-time head coach Jason Kidd dubbed a lanky, 6-foot-11 teenager the team’s floor general.—
Fred Katz,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
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That unit would sacrifice size (with no players taller than the lanky, 6-foot-8 Boucher) in the name of spacing and perimeter shooting.—
Zack Cox,
Boston Herald,
16 Oct. 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 19 Oct. 2025.
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