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

All of them — RVs, makeshift shelters, a few shipping containers and one compound of discarded school bungalows — fall within the U.S.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

Focaccia has become de facto sandwich bread or makeshift pizza crust elsewhere in Italy, but it tends to be bare bones in Genoa, where it has been made since the Middle Ages.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

Mourners placed flowers and letters on the grass outside the mall in a makeshift memorial on Saturday.

From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026

The 2026 Homeless Count recorded just 27 unhoused individuals in 16 dwellings, such as vehicles, tents or makeshift shelters, in Malibu.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

Cornflower, along with other woodland creatures granted sanctuary, was sleeping in makeshift quarters provided by the good mice of Redwall.

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

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

They converted a sewing machine into a diesinking machine, used old auto batteries for electroplating, rigged up other makeshifts.

From Time Magazine Archive

The new foundations were makeshifts to appease popular clamor.

From Education: How Old The New by James J. Walsh