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

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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The scheme worked and the worker was let go after being caught red-handed in their attempts to shirk responsibilities. Matthew Impelli, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 June 2025 By contrast, the drama-less previous season, All Stars 9, shirked eliminations entirely in favor of playing for charity. Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 30 May 2025 Firms are also shirking responsibility for duties and seeking to pawn tariff costs off on suppliers. Kate Nishimura, Sourcing Journal, 22 May 2025 Just a few years earlier, in a 1993 profile in Vibe magazine, Mr. Combs had seemed to shirk all responsibility. Ben Sisario, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for shirk

Word History

Etymology

origin unknown

First Known Use

1681, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of shirk was in 1681

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Shirk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shirk. Accessed 26 Jun. 2025.

Kids Definition

shirk

verb
: to get out of doing especially what one ought to do
: avoid sense 3, evade
shirked their duty
shirker noun

More from Merriam-Webster on shirk

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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