SHAFT Synonyms: 45 Similar and Opposite Words

shaft

noun

ˈshaft

Definition of shaft

as in beam

a narrow sharply defined line of light radiating from an object shafts of late-afternoon sunlight pierced the blinds and streaked the floor

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in spear

a weapon with a long straight handle and sharp head or blade the footmen set their shafts so as to form a bank of steel against the enemy's charging cavalry

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in injustice

unfair or inadequate treatment of someone or something or an instance of this the homeowners who were bought out are convinced they got the shaft in that deal

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 shaft Roll magazines and tuck them inside your boots to prevent the boot shaft from being creased or collapsing during storage. — Emily Benda Gaylord, The Spruce, 20 Sep. 2026 The original basement kitchen was connected to the house by a dumbwaiter, and the current owner turned that shaft into a bar. — David Caraccio, Sacbee.com, 19 Sep. 2026 Industrial operators can deploy them to inspect narrow pipelines, ventilation shafts, sewers, and underground mines for structural flaws. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 18 Sep. 2026 Apply it generously to the ends, then work it up toward the mid-shaft. — Emily Hayes, Martha Stewart, 17 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for shaft

Recent Examples of Synonyms for shaft

Noun

One use involves directing a beam of protons or other heavier particles into the patient, targeting unwanted cancerous cells (proton/heavy ion therapy).

— Andrea Richard, The Conversation, 2 Oct. 2026
Researchers at Romania’s Horia Hulubei National Institute have now solved this speed challenge by producing images with an artificial muon beam for the first time.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of beam

Noun

The fog rises from Mount Tamalpais like a spirit, slowly billowing over spears of feathery redwoods and fluffs of fragrant bay laurels.

— Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 30 Sep. 2026
Arrange the spears in a single layer on a sheet pan and toss with olive oil.

— Maggie Meyer Glisan, Better Homes & Gardens, 26 Sep. 2026

Definition of spear

Noun

In a powerfully compelling novel that brims with the cadences of the Black South, Jones explores the women’s diverging lives while using them as a lens to observe social injustice in language that is intimate, conversational, and musical.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 8 Oct. 2026
The case has drawn widespread attention in Atlanta, where Turner's death became a flashpoint amid nationwide protests over police brutality and racial injustice following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

— Dan Raby, CBS News, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of injustice

Noun

Since then, researchers have won Nobel Prizes for discoveries using neutrinos created with particle accelerators, in cosmic-ray air showers in the Earth’s atmosphere and in the core of the Sun.

— Doug Cowen, The Conversation, 8 Oct. 2026
There’s the brutal heat; the skin destroying UV-rays of that miserable, scorching, eye-blinding sun; the constant allergy/sinusitis issues that NEVER let up; the smothering humidity.

— R. Eric Thomas, Washington Post, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of ray

Noun

But Steffee, who has spent the past several months watching his members go back to work at data center sites where coal used to be the reason anyone had a job at all, also believes the governor got the framing wrong.

— Salena Zito, Washington Post, 6 Oct. 2026
The governor, those critics said, missed an opportunity to take historic apologies he’s made for the state’s past wrongs against Indigenous people and turn them into more concrete changes.

— Andrew Graham, Sacbee.com, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of wrong

Noun

Additionally, objects of cultural patrimony such as five pairs of moccasins, one coupstick, one Cheyenne cradle board and one lance were returned in the ceremony.

— News Desk, Artforum, 20 Aug. 2026
As for the Speed, the museum returned three ceremonial objects (a rattle, a beaded pipe bag, and a beaded turtle amulet) and 21 other items, among them beaded pouches and bags, moccasins, a coup stick, a cradleboard, and a lance.

— Leigh Anne Miller, ARTnews.com, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of lance

Noun

How Doctors Diagnose and Treat It Health care providers use the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders to classify trypanophobia as a specific phobia of the blood-injection-injury type.

— Samantha Agate, Charlotte Observer, 8 Oct. 2026
But with nearly half of the roster sidelined because of injuries or resting, Adou Thiero at least tried to inject some life into a sleepy preseason back-to-back.

— Senior Editor, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of injury

Browse Nearby Words

shady

shaft

shafts

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Style

“Shaft.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shaft. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of shaft

noun

Example Sentences

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