1
as in to avoid
to get or keep away from (as a responsibility) through cleverness or trickery
you always try to shirk paying your fair share of the bill by claiming you "forgot" your wallet
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to neglect
to leave undone or unattended to especially through carelessness
a deadbeat who has been shirking his duty to his family for years
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to lurk
to move about in a sly or secret manner
given the multitude of auditoriums at the multiplex, it's not too difficult for underaged kids to shirk into R-rated movies
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of shirk
Both regulators and Attorney General William Tong have accused the company of shirking its responsibility to clean up the property, hampering redevelopment opportunities.
—
John Moritz, Hartford Courant, 16 Mar. 2025
After living through that hell, the young Sammie shirks his father's wishes and becomes a blues player of great renown.
—Nick Romano, EW.com, 18 Apr. 2025
Though redeveloping Villa Park’s North Stand was shelved in late 2023, Villa have not shirked infrastructure investment under Sawiris and Edens.
—Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025
For those with aspirations to shirk the trend, there are real advantages to keeping things in the family—most of them stemming from a commitment to longevity that precipitates deeper investments in technology and people.
—Ethan Karp, Forbes, 11 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shirk
John Moritz, Hartford Courant, 16 Mar. 2025
After living through that hell, the young Sammie shirks his father's wishes and becomes a blues player of great renown.
—Nick Romano, EW.com, 18 Apr. 2025
Though redeveloping Villa Park’s North Stand was shelved in late 2023, Villa have not shirked infrastructure investment under Sawiris and Edens.
—Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025
For those with aspirations to shirk the trend, there are real advantages to keeping things in the family—most of them stemming from a commitment to longevity that precipitates deeper investments in technology and people.
—Ethan Karp, Forbes, 11 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shirk
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shirk
Verb
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Snow cowered in the back, avoiding eye contact when Kiersten tried reaching her hand out.—
Liz O'Connell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 June 2025
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The team’s careful planning and early outreach helped avoid problems in the future, like having to replace important music in post-production – something that simply wasn’t an option here.—
Hugh McIntyre,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2025
Verb
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Both have been neglected for years: Bridges are crumbling, school buildings disintegrating, and trains — once a symbol of German efficiency — are now so unreliable that some lines are banned from neighboring Switzerland’s railways.—
Tom Chivers,
semafor.com,
4 June 2025
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It has been neglected, with much deferred maintenance.—
Kirk Kenney,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
4 June 2025
Verb
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Supermassive black holes lurk all throughout the known universe, but catching one in the act of devouring its cosmic dinner doesn't happen all that often.—
Eric Lagatta,
USA Today,
6 June 2025
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In this regard, another early-20th-century influence besides Bulgakov lurks in The Stolen Heart: Mykola Khvylovy.—
Uilleam Blacker,
The Atlantic,
4 June 2025
Verb
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If your privacy practices have been less than perfect in the past—and whose have not, given the vanishingly tiny odds of evading every form of digital data collection—additional information about you from over the years is likely available from hundreds of data brokers.—
Andy Greenberg,
Wired News,
16 June 2025
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Hundreds of Iranian missiles rained down across Israel beginning Saturday night, some of them evading the country's sophisticated defense systems.—
Rebecca Rosman,
NPR,
15 June 2025
Verb
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Creating Emotionally Safer Experiences AI is quietly reshaping CX by learning when not to personalize, strategically forgetting past interactions to avoid user fatigue or creepiness.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
16 June 2025
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People forget this, but Duke had already won Game 1 of that Super Regional.—
Mitch Light,
New York Times,
16 June 2025
Verb
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Despite her largely younger fan base – the demographic that loves streaming sites – Cyrus launches her title on the Official Albums Streaming chart at No. 39, just barely sneaking into the top 40 region.—
Hugh McIntyre,
Forbes.com,
10 June 2025
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On assignment for People magazine in 2005, Weiss attempts to sneak onto Brad Pitt’s beachfront compound in Santa Barbara, hoping to grab some tasty morsels about the megastar’s new relationship with Jolie.—
Marc Weingarten,
Los Angeles Times,
9 June 2025
Verb
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Heat escapes its atmosphere so quickly that, were one to stand at its equator at noon with skin exposed — not a great idea!—
Alex Morris,
Rolling Stone,
15 June 2025
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The individual then escaped, believed to have escaped outside the back of the house.—
Mandy Taheri
Peter Aitken
Hollie Silverman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 June 2025
Verb
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If wider markets slip, so may the appetite for future fintech floats.—
Ron Shevlin,
Forbes.com,
14 June 2025
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Mission slipped into 2025 because ULA needed more Vulcan rocket hardware beyond Cert-2 and the two USSF missions that took priority over the Dream Chaser flight.—
Richard Tribou,
The Orlando Sentinel,
14 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Shirk.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shirk. Accessed 20 Jun. 2025.
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