STRAIGHTENED (UP OR OUT) Synonyms: 50 Similar and Opposite Words

straightened (up or out)

verb

past tense of straighten (up or out)

as in shaped up

to change one's behavior or character for the better I hope that rehab will help her straighten up for good

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in trimmed

to make neat a directive for everyone to straighten up their cubicle in preparation for a visit from some corporate VIPs

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for straightened (up or out)

Verb

Frost, who led Nebraska to two national titles as a quarterback, likes the way his quarterback room has shaped up over the past eight months.

— Matt Murschel, The Orlando Sentinel, 27 Aug. 2026
Stacey Barchenger Warren Petersen and Rodney Glassman crisscrossed the state for more than a year courting Republican voters in what shaped up to be a bruising primary election race.

— Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com, 21 July 2026

Definition of shaped up

Verb

Throw on an oversize black pantsuit, add a filament-thin chain at the waist and let your untucked shirt, trimmed with a random assortment of little baubles, peek out at the bottom.

— Vanessa Friedman, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026
Ng trimmed his price target to $140 per share from $144, but said Disney is too compelling to ignore at current levels.

— Michael Bloom, CNBC, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of trimmed

Verb

Although the food situation has improved since last year’s famine, Israel continues to restrict humanitarian aid, allowing only a fraction of the daily 600 truckloads required in the cease-fire deal to enter the territory.

— KHALED ELGINDY, Foreign Affairs, 8 Oct. 2026
OpenAI also did not include full prompts or run-time details for how their agents uncovered the proofs, and officials admitted in a blog post about the results that citations and written descriptions of findings could be improved in future releases.

— Joseph Howlett, Scientific American, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of improved

Verb

The Israeli-American Council organized a protest on Friday outside of the Laemmle NoHo 7 in North Hollywood, timed to the screening of the feature that examines Israel’s military operations in Gaza.

— Ryan Gajewski, HollywoodReporter, 10 Oct. 2026
Two of Belgium’s largest labor unions organized Friday’s daylong national strike, with a separate public-sector walkout planned for Monday.

— James Cirrone, FOXNews.com, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of organized

Verb

But the city’s Finance, Governance and Public Safety Committee on Tuesday amended the map to remove portions of the 3rd District — which is the district the Chiefs and Royals are leaving for their new stadiums.

— Dylan Lysen, Kansas City Star, 7 Oct. 2026
Poudel said the government has so far refused to issue death certificates, saying laws need to be amended first.

— ABC News, ABC News, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of amended

Verb

My interview with Altman had been arranged weeks earlier, just as the first revelations emerged about swarms of rogue AI agents conspiring to hack websites.

— Alyson Shontell, Fortune, 5 Oct. 2026
In Saved, Hall wrote that those soldiers had been arranged by a Ukrainian army press liaison at Kuvshynova's request.

— David Folkenflik, NPR, 4 Oct. 2026

Definition of arranged

Verb

The vegetables’ changing moisture, texture and shape also meant no two instruments behaved exactly alike.

— SPIN Staff, SPIN, 5 Oct. 2026
The company has since disclosed several additional incidents where its models behaved in unintended ways, prompting industry researchers and government officials to call for additional oversight.

— Ashley Capoot, CNBC, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of behaved

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.

Browse Nearby Words

straightened (up)

straightened (up or out)

straightening

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Straightened (up or out).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/straightened%20%28up%20or%20out%29. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of straightened (up or out)

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

galore

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Popular in Wordplay

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

Popular

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes