pigeonhole
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.
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“If we embrace narrow group-based identities too fiercely, we cling to the very cages in which others would seek to trap us. We pigeonhole ourselves.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 31, 2026
“I’m not going to pigeonhole myself into any plans,” McVay said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2025
"Aerospace has something for people with different backgrounds, different qualifications, there's so much variety. So don't pigeonhole yourself, there really is something for everyone here."
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2025
Regarding, Laura's edit: The show needs a villain, and in many instances, they try to pigeonhole someone who doesn't, in any way, fit those criteria.
From Salon ● May 22, 2024
This bit of common sense, sometimes termed the pigeonhole or Dirichlet drawer principle, can occasionally be used to derive claims that are not so obvious.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
Somewhere along the way if you're a young actor coming up, you can bet there are pigeonholes for everyone.
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2024
Everything that’s wrong with this place is the way we put everyone in pigeonholes.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 8, 2020
“It pigeonholes you. I remember having a conversation with my dad in ’74.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2019
Can't it be about something bigger - anger at critics, the guy who grabbed her then sued her, the world in general that pigeonholes women?
From New York Times ● Nov. 9, 2017
She put all of her papers neatly in the pigeonholes of her desk, and when Joe brought the tea tray she had him put it beside her bed.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
Steinem said that she was pigeonholed because of the story.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026
But one gets the sense that Thatcher’s worried about being pigeonholed.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
“You can get pigeonholed really quickly,” she says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 25, 2026
The American actor says she is "always" being pigeonholed into a certain role due to her age but she "resists at every turn".
From BBC ● Jan. 28, 2026
Jazz celebrity though he was, Duke Ellington disliked his music being pigeonholed as ‘jazz’; he preferred simply to call it ‘American music’, and he experimented in many forms and genres.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
He no longer felt like the “Baby” singer everyone was so hellbent on pigeonholing him as.
From Salon ● Dec. 21, 2024
Where artists used to hate being pigeonholed, now they do the pigeonholing themselves.
From BBC ● Nov. 28, 2023
Aside from the expressive art, “the story is not so much a story as an affirmation, about identity and being open to change and not pigeonholing yourself.”
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 13, 2023
While pigeonholing has no place in their work, finishing each other’s sentences is a big part of the process.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2023
It offers no nifty formulas for pigeonholing people or decoding folkways and manners.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
Vocabulary lists containing pigeonhole
The Legislative Branch, Sections 4–6
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