makeshift

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

For decades, small grooves on ancient human teeth were thought to be evidence of deliberate tool use – people cleaning their teeth with sticks or fibers, or easing gum pain with makeshift “toothpicks.”

From Science Daily • Jun. 8, 2026

Those sponsored leaflets and postcard mailers that end up as makeshift coasters, mosquito swatters or unread refuse that goes straight from the mailbox into the blue recycle bin.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 1, 2026

Food was served in a parking lot and a Turkish restaurant was turned into a makeshift office.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026

Sitting on the ground, a woman and her daughter assembled the dough in circles Gaza-style, before a man baked them in a makeshift clay oven.

From Barron's • May 27, 2026

After pushing and dragging the planes through mud and slush—“almost carrying them in our hands,” said Larisa Rozanova—the young women got the eight Po-2s onto a makeshift runway made of logs.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein