'makeshift' definitions:
Definition of 'makeshift'
(from WordNet)
adjective
Done or made using whatever is available; "crossed the river on improvised bridges"; "the survivors used jury- rigged fishing gear"; "the rock served as a makeshift hammer" [syn: improvised, jury-rigged, makeshift]
noun
Definition of 'makeshift'
From: GCIDE
- makeshift \make"shift`\ (m[=a]k"sh[i^]ft`), n. That with which one makes shift; a temporary expedient, with implication of inferiority to the more usual object or means. --James Mill. [1913 Webster +PJC]
- I am not a model clergyman, only a decent makeshift. --G. Eliot. [1913 Webster] makeup
Synonyms of 'makeshift'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- action,
- ad hoc,
- ad hoc measure,
- ad lib,
- ad libitum,
- ad-lib,
- ad-libbing,
- adulterated,
- agent,
- alternate,
- alternative,
- analogy,
- answer,
- arrangement,
- artifice,
- backup,
- band-aid,
- blemished,
- caught napping,
- caught off balance,
- caught short,
- change,
- changeling,
- comparison,
- contrivance,
- copy,
- counterfeit,
- countermove,
- coup,
- course of action,
- damaged,
- defective,
- deficient,
- demarche,
- deputy,
- dernier ressort,
- device,
- dodge,
- double,
- dummy,
- effort,
- emergency,
- equal,
- equivalent,
- erroneous,
- ersatz,
- exchange,
- expediency,
- expedient,
- extemporaneous,
- extemporaneousness,
- extemporariness,
- extemporary,
- extempore,
- extemporization,
- extemporized,
- fake,
- fallible,
- faulty,
- fill-in,
- found wanting,
- ghost,
- ghostwriter,
- gimmick,
- haphazard,
- hasty,
- imitation,
- immature,
- impaired,
- imperfect,
- imprecise,
- impromptu,
- improvisation,
- improvisational,
- improvisatorial,
- improvise,
- improvised,
- improvision,
- improviso,
- impure,
- inaccurate,
- inadequate,
- incomplete,
- inexact,
- jury-rig,
- jury-rigged,
- jury-rigged expedient,
- lacking,
- last expedient,
- last resort,
- last shift,
- locum tenens,
- makeshifty,
- maneuver,
- means,
- measure,
- mediocre,
- metaphor,
- metonymy,
- mixed,
- mock,
- move,
- next best thing,
- not perfect,
- off,
- off-the-cuff,
- offhand,
- partial,
- patchy,
- personnel,
- phony,
- pinch,
- pinch hitter,
- pis aller,
- playing by ear,
- precipitate,
- pro tempore,
- provisional,
- proxy,
- recourse,
- refuge,
- relief,
- replacement,
- representative,
- reserve,
- reserves,
- resort,
- resource,
- ringer,
- rough-and-ready,
- second string,
- secondary,
- shake-up,
- shift,
- short,
- sign,
- sketchy,
- slapdash,
- snap,
- solution,
- spare,
- spares,
- stand-in,
- step,
- stopgap,
- stratagem,
- stroke,
- stroke of policy,
- sub,
- substituent,
- substitute,
- substitution,
- succedaneum,
- superseder,
- supplanter,
- surprised,
- surrogate,
- symbol,
- synecdoche,
- tactic,
- taken aback,
- taken by surprise,
- taken unawares,
- temporary,
- temporary arrangement,
- temporary expedient,
- temporary measure,
- tentative,
- third string,
- token,
- trick,
- tripped up,
- trump,
- unarranged,
- unbegun,
- unconcocted,
- uncontrived,
- undeliberated,
- understudy,
- undeveloped,
- undevised,
- uneven,
- unfinished,
- unhatched,
- unmade,
- unmanufactured,
- unorganized,
- unperfected,
- unplanned,
- unpremeditated,
- unprepared,
- unprimed,
- unready,
- unrehearsed,
- unsound,
- unstudied,
- unthorough,
- utility,
- utility player,
- vicar,
- vicarious,
- vice-president,
- vice-regent,
- wanting,
- working hypothesis,
- working proposition