as in defeats
failure to win a contest
suffered a shellacking at the hands of a vastly superior opposition
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shellackings
Noun
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Crying babies in hippie attire accompany John’s discontent with the counterculture’s retreat from politics after multiple defeats in the ’70s.—
Vikram Murthi,
IndieWire,
15 May 2026 -
The defeats have been stinging.—
Zachary Schermele,
USA Today,
15 May 2026
Noun
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Even in losses, the Pistons recovered miss after miss against them.—
Tony Jones,
New York Times,
18 May 2026
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Despite a series of stinging gerrymandering losses, Democrats remain favored to take back the House.—
Zachary Schermele,
USA Today,
18 May 2026
Noun
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This all comes after Starship suffered a string of setbacks during test flights last year, including an uncontrolled re-entry through Earth’s atmosphere and two midflight explosions as the upper-stage vehicles were accelerating into space.—
Denise Chow,
NBC news,
17 May 2026
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Conversely, nearly every other county in the state saw upswings as tourism continues its recovery from pandemic setbacks.—
Andrew J. Campa,
Los Angeles Times,
17 May 2026
Noun
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Each day, they are filled with one-dimensional stories of beatings, stabbing and shootings — all sad accounts of a city in decline.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
10 May 2026
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Trips to detention hearings brought beatings.—
Jeremy Diamond,
CNN Money,
9 May 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Shellackings.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shellackings. Accessed 20 May. 2026.
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