straightened (up or out)

verb

past tense of straighten (up or out)
1
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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
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)
  1. shaped up
  2. trimmed
  3. improved
  4. organized
  5. amended
  6. arranged
  7. behaved
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
  • That defense had Jason Taylor, Joey Porter, Zach Thomas, Channing Crowder, Keith Traylor, Vonnie Holliday, Yeremiah Bell, Will Allen and Renaldo Hill on it to start the season, but injuries trimmed the fat.
    — Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 9 Oct. 2026
  • With no takers, the price tag was trimmed to $20 million in April.
    — Jack Flemming, Los Angeles Times, 8 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
  • Cleanup crews are also arranged, with Life Time paying several local clubs and volunteer groups to pick up any garbage left after the race, according to Thurman.
    — Glory Reitz, Arkansas Online, 12 Oct. 2026
  • They have been arranged so that the main entrance opens onto the living room.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 11 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
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Cite this Entry

“Straightened (up or out).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/straightened%20%28up%20or%20out%29. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

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