makeshift

American  

[meyk-shift] / ˈmeɪkˌʃɪft /

noun

• makeshifts
  plural

1. 

   a temporary expedient or substitute.

   We used boxes as a makeshift while the kitchen chairs were being painted.

   Synonyms:

   jury-rig, contrivance, make-do

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adjective

1. Also makeshifty. serving as, or of the nature of, a makeshift.

   Synonyms:

   ersatz, jury, improvised, temporary, emergency

makeshift British  

/ ˈmeɪkˌʃɪft /

adjective

1. serving as a temporary or expedient means, esp during an emergency

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noun

1. something serving in this capacity

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• makeshifts
  plural

Etymology

Origin of makeshift

First recorded in 1555–65; noun, adj. use of verb phrase make shift

Explanation

If you have to use a garbage can lid as a sled or a set of drapes as a ball gown, then you know what it means to put together a makeshift creation. Something makeshift has been improvised, thrown together with whatever is around. What's interesting about makeshift is the way it can vary in meaning from approval to criticism. Those people trapped on the island in Lost? They came up with some pretty cool makeshift tents and survival ideas. But a government described as makeshift, for example, probably has little going for it.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

makeshift makeshifts

He nailed several boards together to create a makeshift coffin for the limb.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 7, 2026

The production, directed by Margaret Shigeko Starbuck, runs with the makeshift energy and comical freedom that this contextual shift allows.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026

Entire communities have been swept away, leaving families homeless and using makeshift shelters as heavy rain lashes down.

From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026

Perrin then assembled a makeshift watering squad—one person to drive the tractor and four others to trail with hoses—at a cost of about €1,500, or $1,750, a day.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

Penelope gave a slow spin to the makeshift globe she had fashioned out of a roundish potato and a long birch twig that had been whittled to a point.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

Afghan refugee and photographer Abdul Saboor poses for Reuters as he takes pictures in a makeshifts migrant camp in Loon-Plage, near Dunkirk, France, December 4, 2021.

From Reuters ● Dec. 8, 2021

Awkward staging makeshifts had to be employed instead, resulting in hundreds of audience members leaving the theatre every night scratching their heads.

From Slate ● Nov. 29, 2013

These two are not makeshifts but attacking bowlers for turning tracks.

From The Guardian ● Feb. 23, 2011

Less de luxe makeshifts are being employed by other Irish, for Eire faces several acute war-born shortages.

From Time Magazine Archive

These early bridges of provincial days were but insecure makeshifts in many cases, miserable floating bridges being common across the wide rivers.

From Stage-coach and Tavern Days by Alice Morse Earle