shirk

verb

ˈshərk 

shirked; shirking; shirks

intransitive verb

1

: to go stealthily : sneak

2

: to evade the performance of an obligation

transitive verb

: avoid, evade

shirk one's duty

shirker noun

Synonyms

• avoid
• dodge
• duck
• elude
• escape
• eschew
• evade
• finesse
• get around
• scape
• shake
• shuffle (out of)
• shun
• weasel (out of)

Examples of shirk in a Sentence

He's too conscientious to shirk his duty.

He never shirked from doing his duty.

They did their duty without shirking or complaining.

Recent Examples on the Web

The ex-American may want to shirk her tax responsibility, but the IRS has other plans. —Alicia Adamczyk, Fortune, 1 Nov. 2024

In a meeting with District 3 residents last week, Mahan pledged his office would help bridge some of the leadership and services gaps as Torres continued to shirk his responsibilities. —Devan Patel, The Mercury News, 22 Oct. 2024

Here, writer Chelsey Lora frames Tim Tebow’s mentorship as one possible wake-up call; seeing the ways Aaron keeps failing Meyer’s tests and shirking responsibility, Tim invites him to a church service. —Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2024

If college presidents get a pass, then why shouldn’t all institutional leaders in democratic society shirk their duties? —Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, TIME, 19 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

origin unknown

First Known Use

1681, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Kids Definition

shirk

verb

ˈshərk 

: to get out of doing especially what one ought to do

: avoid sense 3, evade

shirked their duty

shirker noun