1
as in ridiculed
to make (someone or something) the object of unkind laughter
nowadays the aging activist is routinely shot down in most quarters of the media and dismissed as an irrelevant crank
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in dismissed
to reject by or as if by a vote
every one of my fund-raising ideas was shot down by the other club members
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in refuted
to prove to be false
the results of several studies shoot down the hypothesis that coffee causes heart attacks
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of shot down
The Ukrainian Air Force said in a Telegram post Saturday morning that Russia overnight had launched 503 projectiles -- 458 drones and 45 missiles -- of which 415 were shot down while the remaining 78 struck 25 different locations across Ukraine.
—
Oleksiy Pshemyskiy, ABC News, 8 Nov. 2025
Interim athletic director Verge Ausberry has shot down any talk of Nick Saban reuniting with the program, but Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin has been rumored as a candidate.
—Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 7 Nov. 2025
The Kremlin forcefully shot down the rumors on Friday, saying there was no basis to them.
—Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 7 Nov. 2025
In an appearance on Fox News on Thursday morning, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy shot down concerns that the crash was related to the government shutdown.
—Matt Lavietes, NBC news, 6 Nov. 2025
However, Mitch Bannon of The Athletic shot down that explanation in his reporting on Bieber's return to Toronto on Tuesday night.
—Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
Voters, in a very close decision − only a 58 vote difference − shot down the proposal, according to unofficial results.
—Christina Hall, Freep.com, 5 Nov. 2025
However, Bela Bajaria, Netflix's chief creative officer, made comments to Variety in a story published days earlier that shot down the possibility of such a thing coming together.
—Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Oct. 2025
On September 9, Poland shot down Russian drones that had violated its airspace.
—Catherine Nicholls, CNN Money, 27 Oct. 2025
Oleksiy Pshemyskiy, ABC News, 8 Nov. 2025
Interim athletic director Verge Ausberry has shot down any talk of Nick Saban reuniting with the program, but Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin has been rumored as a candidate.
—Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 7 Nov. 2025
The Kremlin forcefully shot down the rumors on Friday, saying there was no basis to them.
—Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 7 Nov. 2025
In an appearance on Fox News on Thursday morning, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy shot down concerns that the crash was related to the government shutdown.
—Matt Lavietes, NBC news, 6 Nov. 2025
However, Mitch Bannon of The Athletic shot down that explanation in his reporting on Bieber's return to Toronto on Tuesday night.
—Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
Voters, in a very close decision − only a 58 vote difference − shot down the proposal, according to unofficial results.
—Christina Hall, Freep.com, 5 Nov. 2025
However, Bela Bajaria, Netflix's chief creative officer, made comments to Variety in a story published days earlier that shot down the possibility of such a thing coming together.
—Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Oct. 2025
On September 9, Poland shot down Russian drones that had violated its airspace.
—Catherine Nicholls, CNN Money, 27 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shot down
Verb
-
Fear of being outed or being suspected or being made fun of, ridiculed, losing your standing.—
Abbey White,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Nov. 2025
-
Democrats ridiculed Vance’s performance.—
Daniel Bush,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
The domestic violence case was dismissed and the theft charge had yet to be disputed in court.—
Tamia Fowlkes,
jsonline.com,
9 Nov. 2025
-
Carrie, meanwhile, is villainized for her admittedly deluded quest to reunite with her biological son in a world that has dismissed them.—
Hunter Ingram,
Variety,
8 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
In an email to Pitchfork, MOT’s Lucien Calkin refuted Clateman’s account and said there was no punch.—
Kieran Press-Reynolds,
Pitchfork,
6 Nov. 2025
-
Lean also refuted claims that bipolar disorder stifles creativity.—
Mackenzie Cummings-Grady,
Billboard,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
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In another photo obtained by TMZ, Matthews also mocked Perry’s headline-making photo of her kissing the ground following her return to Earth.—
Jason Pham,
StyleCaster,
10 Nov. 2025
-
Elites stirred up a now familiar moral panic about commerce corrupting letters and mocked Grub Street even as its writers built the first modern freelance economy and mass-print culture.—
Deni Ellis Béchard,
Scientific American,
8 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Tens of thousands of people have been killed throughout the conflict.—
Tom O'Connor,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Nov. 2025
-
The recent floods in central Vietnam killed at least 13 people, inundated over 116,000 houses and 5,000 hectares of crops, according to the government’s disaster agency, reported by Reuters.—
Helen Regan,
CNN Money,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Drone footage showed catastrophic flooding that turned streets into rivers, submerged homes and overturned cars as Typhoon Kalmaegi, known locally as Tino, dumped more than a month’s worth of rain in only 24 hours in some areas.—
Helen Regan,
CNN Money,
6 Nov. 2025
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However, that suspension was overturned by Derrick Brooks, who is the hearing office for the NFL.—
Mark Kern,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Google, Meta, Microsoft’s LinkedIn, and Elon Musk’s X have all delayed, adjusted, or flat-out refused to launch AI products because of the bloc’s laws.—
Andrew Nusca,
Fortune,
10 Nov. 2025
-
And the defense refused to yield.—
Ira Gorawara,
New York Times,
9 Nov. 2025
Verb
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If Johnston had vetoed any of the amendments, the council would have had an opportunity Monday to consider overriding any of those vetoes, but would have needed a supermajority to do so.—
Elliott Wenzler,
Denver Post,
7 Nov. 2025
-
Newsom vetoed a similar, but slightly more expansive, version of the bill in 2024.—
Wire Report,
Mercury News,
5 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Shot down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shot%20down. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
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