as in defeat
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
as in whipping
to defeat by a large margin
the local football team was shellacked 35-0 in their final outing for the season
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of shellacking
Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Oct. 2025
Roosevelt has scored 88 points in its last two games, including a 40-22 shellacking of 4A Ponderosa.
—Matt Schubert, Denver Post, 24 Sep. 2025
Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 8 Nov. 2025
While Cincinnati’s visit to Detroit was one of the more intriguing matchups on the fall calendar, the loss of Joe Burrow and the Bengals’ subsequent 48-10 shellacking under the horns of the Vikings have made the team a liability of sorts.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 3 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shellacking
Noun
Following a two-week international break, Pellegrino started at Portland last week and scored twice more in a 4-0 shellacking that gave SDFC the Western Conference title.
—Verb
And it certainly can be noticed, both in its abundance, and in the case of the Warriors’ 129-104 shellacking on Friday night at the hands of the Nuggets in an Emirates Cup group stage matchup, in its absence.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for shellacking
Noun
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Quick was hardly to blame for New York's eighth defeat in nine games, with mistakes by teammates in front of him putting the veteran goaltender in all sorts of difficult positions.—
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The debate follows the November defeat of Proposition Q, a ballot measure that would have increased Austin’s property tax rate by 20% to fund public safety and infrastructure projects.—
Verb
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The cold weather shouldn’t be a huge factor unless the wind starts whipping.—
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The wind was whipping throughout Kyle Field in College Station, Texas, that day, which had a massive impact on the kicking game.—
Noun
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But those guards fell crashing down on Wednesday night in a brutally honest assessment of his team following Boise State’s (9-6, 1-3 Mountain West) 75-58 home loss to Grand Canyon (9-5, 2-1) at ExtraMile Arena.—
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Despite the losses, Damon traveled to Texas and won the national title, dedicating the victory to his family and supporters.—
Verb
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Interestingly the pool scene, where Kevin loses his dad’s massive swim trunks while bombing in the pool, was filmed at the Four Seasons Chicago – the Plaza Hotel doesn’t have an indoor pool.—
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One recent example is former President Barack Obama not seeking congressional authorization or providing Congress a heads-up before bombing Libya in 2011.—
Noun
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School desegregation, voting rights and public-accommodation battles – especially across the South – had led to shootings and beatings of African Americans by white counterprotesters and police.—
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Non-league Macclesfield Town produced one of the FA Cup’s most startling soccer upsets on Saturday beating titleholders Crystal Palace 2–1 in a third‑round thriller.—
Verb
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The mighty Mariners, who mashed five solo home runs at raucous T-Mobile Park, clinched their title by drubbing Major League Baseball’s doormat, aka the Colorado Rockies, 9-2.—
Noun
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Despite the joy, the project wasn’t without setbacks.—
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The city’s housing crisis began nearly a century ago during the Great Depression (more than 35 years before the Landmarks Law was even enacted), and has experienced a series of improvements and setbacks with the ebbs and flows of our developing and unpredictable economy.—
Verb
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The team overcoming those injuries defined the season.—
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The search company has been on the rise after putting together the pieces for its AI comeback and overcoming key regulatory hurdles last year.—
Cite this Entry
“Shellacking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shellacking. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.
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