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junk

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verb

Synonym Chooser

How is the word junk different from other verbs like it?

Some common synonyms of junk are cast, discard, scrap, shed, and slough. While all these words mean "to get rid of," scrap and junk imply throwing away or breaking up as worthless in existent form.

scrap all the old ways
would junk our educational system

When is it sensible to use cast instead of junk?

The meanings of cast and junk largely overlap; however, cast, especially when used with off, away, or out, implies a forceful rejection or repudiation.

cast off her friends

Where would discard be a reasonable alternative to junk?

Although the words discard and junk have much in common, discard implies the letting go or throwing away of something that has become useless or superfluous though often not intrinsically valueless.

discard old clothes

How do shed and slough relate to one another, in the sense of junk?

Shed and slough imply a throwing off of something both useless and encumbering and often suggest a consequent renewal of vitality or luster.

shed a bad habit
finally sloughed off the depression

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of junk
Noun
Attention should also be given to junk in orbit about or on the surfaces of other bodies in the solar system, however. Aaron Shattuck, Scientific American, 20 May 2025 Drugs are a given, and Roberta has built up a pretty serious junk habit, but, this being Italy, the radical left is at its height, and many women have connections to the Brigate Rosse, one of the many outlaw European outfits of the time carrying out robberies, kidnappings and sabotage. Damon Wise, Deadline, 20 May 2025
Verb
EVs are so new to the market that few have been junked—and even those are often snapped up for uses such as off-grid power storage. Vince Beiser, WIRED, 30 Nov. 2024 This episode of What’s Ahead makes the case for junking the tax code and replacing it with a simple, single-rate system: the flat tax. Steve Forbes, Forbes, 3 Dec. 2024 See All Example Sentences for junk
Recent Examples of Synonyms for junk
Noun
  • Scallions, chili oil, or even a slice of cheese (yes, cheese) elevate the dish from ordinary to indulgent.
    The Learning Network, New York Times, 20 May 2025
  • Go for the iconic #19, pastrami, swiss cheese, coleslaw and Russian dressing on rye.
    David Weiss, Forbes.com, 19 May 2025
Noun
  • Allegiance The Resistance, led by General Leia Organa, regroups on the garbage planet Anoat, while Finn and Poe go on a secret mission to retrieve a weapons cache to increase their dwindling arsenal.
    Nick Romano, EW.com, 25 May 2025
  • Duluth, Minnesota, has installed effective and unobtrusive signs at each beach entrance next to a garbage receptacle.
    John Michael Pierobon, Sun Sentinel, 25 May 2025
Verb
  • Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar sold about $21 million worth of Palantir stock, while co-founder and president Stephen Cohen dumped about $43.5 million in shares.
    Samantha Subin, CNBC, 23 May 2025
  • Followers can feel like a kind of currency, built up over years: Some people don’t leave the bar, because they’re invested and don’t want to dump their shares.
    Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 23 May 2025
Noun
  • And oftentimes, these cheap items end up as rubbish.
    Ramishah Maruf, CNN Money, 16 Apr. 2025
  • This never got past the drawing board stage, but the idea kept cropping up again and again with many variations on a circular shape and performance that spanned from interesting to rubbish.
    David Szondy, New Atlas, 29 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Species: The most valuable trees are hardy, durable, highly adaptable and won’t drop debris like nuts or pods everywhere.
    LEW SICHELMAN, Miami Herald, 22 May 2025
  • On both occasions, the rocket's upper stage shut down its engines prematurely and the vehicle lost control, breaking apart in the upper atmosphere and spreading debris near the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
    John Timmer, ArsTechnica, 22 May 2025
Verb
  • Disposable paper dresses enjoyed a brief vogue in the turbulent late 1960s, when young people literally wore their politics and interests on their sleeves—but were prepared to discard them as easily as a piece of Kleenex.
    Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 May 2025
  • The first-stage booster that had been tapped during the original attempts was discarded for a new booster.
    Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 27 May 2025
Noun
  • Despite months of neighborhood opposition, a trash truck depot will indeed move forward on Randolph Avenue in St. Paul.
    Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 23 May 2025
  • For such a staunch advocate of pop trash, Cocker is surprisingly tuned out from modern radio.
    Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 23 May 2025
Noun
  • The thin layer of Saharan dust that could limit Friday’s soaking will dissipate over the weekend, but the moisture should linger, Torres-Vasquez said.
    Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, 30 May 2025
  • And those planets had access to plenty of fresh water—water that had several routes to reach them, from comet and asteroid impacts to icy dust being imprisoned within the planets as they were being built.
    Robin George Andrews, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Junk.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/junk. Accessed 3 Jun. 2025.

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