Synonyms of junk

junk 1 of 2

noun

ˈjəŋk 

1

as in cheese

that which is of low quality or worth

couldn't believe that such junk was chosen to be read for the book club

my car is junk—it spends more time in the shop than on the road

Synonyms & Similar Words

• cheese
• rubbish
• trash
• muck
• camp
• tripe
• drek
• lemon
• bomb
• nonsense
• crapola
• dreck
• mess
• sleaze
• slop
• slush
• kitsch
• claptrap
• turkey
• humbug
• stinker
• clinker
• clunker
• dud
• shambles
• muddle

2

as in garbage

discarded or useless material

junk on the side of the road waiting for the trash collection

Synonyms & Similar Words

• garbage
• debris
• trash
• rubbish
• dust
• truck
• litter
• sewage
• rubble
• waste
• dross
• offal
• scrap
• effluvia
• deadwood
• chaff
• refuse
• drek
• dreck
• wreckage
• raffle
• effluvium
• riffraff
• lumber
• ruins
• detritus
• spilth
• crud
• wash
• offscouring
• dump
• swill
• flotsam
• scrap heap
• remains
• discard
• trumpery
• slop
• jetsam
• castoff
• nothing
• straw
• reject
• throwaway
• odds and ends
• cull
• two bits
• hand-me-down

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• treasure
• trove
• prize
• pearl
• gem
• plum
• treasure trove
• jewel
• catch
• find
• goodie
• salvage
• booty
• goody
• valuable

junk

2 of 2

verb

as in to dump

to get rid of as useless or unwanted

we'll have to junk this old car

Synonyms & Similar Words

• dump
• discard
• unload
• ditch
• scrap
• lose
• shed
• abandon
• reject
• chuck
• remove
• toss
• jettison
• set aside
• throw away
• exorcize
• cast (off)
• slough (off)
• exorcise
• shuck (off)
• fling (off or away)
• sluff (off)
• eliminate
• throw out
• lay by
• dispose of
• deep-six
• dismiss
• eighty-six
• cashier
• 86
• desert
• forsake
• pitch
• abdicate
• abolish
• kick out
• eradicate
• wipe out
• expunge
• exterminate
• extirpate
• liquidate
• stamp (out)
• annihilate
• extinguish
• root (out)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• use
• adopt
• take on
• embrace
• utilize
• employ
• keep
• hold
• retain
• hold back

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

Recent Examples of junk

Noun

Everyone has some clutter, even if it’s confined to a junk drawer in the kitchen. —Lew Sichelman, Miami Herald, 13 Mar. 2025

Check thrift stores, your local buy-nothing groups, and your own junk drawers. —Cori Sears, Better Homes & Gardens, 8 Mar. 2025

Verb

The ratings agency Fitch restored Delta’s investment-grade credit rating this July after cutting it to junk during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic. —Melvin Backman, Quartz, 18 Nov. 2024

Downgrades to junk from two of Boeing’s three major credit graders would leave much of its $52 billion of outstanding long-term debt ineligible for inclusion in investment-grade indexes. —Caleb Mutua, Fortune, 10 Oct. 2024

Video

Some Odd Words with ISMO: "Junk in the Trunk"

Comedian ISMO on what separates a boot from a trunk