SHOULDERED Synonyms: 69 Similar and Opposite Words

shouldered

verb

Definition of shouldered next

past tense of shoulder

as in assumed

to take to or upon oneself agreed to shoulder the burden of caring for their elderly father

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in pushed

to force one's way shouldered through the crowd at the bar and ordered a drink

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of shouldered This extends not only to their immediate objectives — finding safety, love and liberation — but to the more conceptual notions of their long-standing existence in Hindu societies, where they’re shouldered with a spiritual importance than can swiftly be stripped away. —

Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 20 May 2026 Gavin Biggins shouldered the load offensively with four goals, while Brayden Rau (hat trick) sniped the game-ending tally as Rockland knocked off South Shore League foe East Bridgewater in overtime, 9-8. —

Tyler McManus, Boston Herald, 14 May 2026 Beyond Smith, Bueckers has garnered the respect of a team full of WNBA veterans, including Ogunbowale, who shouldered the weight of the Wings’ expectations for six seasons. —

Annie Costabile, New York Times, 9 May 2026 Californians’ need for health care doesn’t just disappear when there isn’t coverage; instead, they are pushed into emergency care and treated at a higher cost, often shouldered by taxpayers and other patients with private insurance. —

Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Oc Register, 4 May 2026 While companies shouldered much of the tariff costs, at least some were passed to shoppers through higher shelf prices. —

Rachel Barber, USA Today, 30 Apr. 2026 Abu Dhabi has shouldered a burden over the past decade, keeping its output low to help the group. —

Judah Taub, semafor.com, 30 Apr. 2026 Rivers of Babylon, written in 1991 by the Slovak author Peter Pišťanek, tells the story of a young, simple-minded, and broad-shouldered ex-soldier called Rácz who leaves his impoverished village in the Slovakian countryside to work as the stoker of a hotel in Bratislava. —

Big Think, 29 Apr. 2026 Vásquez emphasized that the costs were not a blanket market rate, but rather a temporary toll shouldered by companies. —

Alma Solis, Fortune, 24 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for shouldered

Verb

Because of the church scene, which was strongly suggestive of all the characters going to the afterlife, many viewers assumed that all the passengers on Oceanic 815 had been dead the whole time.

— Julie Tremaine, PEOPLE, 23 May 2026
In an unusual move, the Lake County sheriff’s department assumed New Chicago police jurisdiction Friday in the one-square mile town located west of Lake Station and north of Hobart.

— Carole Carlson, Chicago Tribune, 23 May 2026