Skip to main content
shake-up

shake-up

15 4.3
A major change in how people run an organization
  • noun
  • /ˈʃeɪkˌʌp/
translation icon : reorganización
  • After the scandal, there was a significant shake-up in the leadership team.
  • a major shake-up
  • a management shake-up
  • a big shake-up

Storage got a big shake up at this price point this year.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • This company needs a shake-up.

  • But on the other hand, perhaps this is what Trek needs: a major shake-up so that it can come full circle.

    Blog text (8)
  • And what, what could use a shake up more than the car industry?

  • Storage got a big shake up at this price point this year.

  • Now this shake up is going deeper, it's more concrete.

  • There will be a ton of shake-ups across the college football landscape.

    Blog text (17)
  • When mobile devices and native apps hit the mainstream market, the software testing world underwent a major shake-up.

    Blog text (14)
  • The addition of Benioff is part of Cisco's executive shake-up done by Chambers.

    Blog text (32)
  • But Wall Street's hyperfocus on the short term sometimes blinds it to major shake-ups approaching on the horizon.

    Blog text (12)
  • Anyway, all I know is, Chiltern, a serious shake-up in the Government looks inevitable now... and I have to tell you the Prime Minster himself was asking about you this morning.

Synonyms

restructuring
vsshake-up
54 4.2

Changing how a company or system is organized to make it work better

is broader and emphasizes large drastic changes beyond efficiency goals
upheaval
vsshake-up
51 6.9

A sudden big change that causes confusion and problems

is a planned large reorganization rather than unplanned chaos
reorganization
vsshake-up
27 3.7

Major changes to how a company or group is set up

is the resulting major change often presented as a single event
shakeup
vsshake-up
  • US
15 5.0

A big change in a company or government that replaces leaders and changes how it works

is the same idea but written with a hyphen here
reshuffling
vsshake-up
3 4.6

A change in the order of people or things in a group

refers to a wide organizational overhaul rather than repeated small moves
reshuffle
vsshake-up
2 5.3

A change in the order of people or jobs in a group

covers larger structural and often more drastic rearrangements

Antonyms

363 3.1

Being steady and not likely to change

52 4.7

A situation where things stay the same or keep happening without big changes

How Extensive

revolution
810 4.1
shake-up
15 4.3
overhaul
73 5.1
adjustment
133 2.9

Surface Forms

shake-up singular
shake-ups plural

Morphology

shake-up = shake up (semi-transparent) = shake + up

The noun is built from the phrasal verb 'shake up', and the image of disturbing or agitating something is clear, but the specific meaning 'major reorganization' is partly conventional and not fully predictable.

Etymology

Shake-up comes from the simple parts shake (to move something quickly so its parts change place) and up (showing a strong or complete change), like shaking a box so everything inside falls into new places. So a shake-up is a big reorganization or strong change that moves things around.