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.
Eddie was our Orlando Sentinel colleague in 2001 and passionately believed NASCAR had turned a blind eye to driver safety, shirking its most fundamental responsibility. Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel, 13 Feb. 2025 Los Angeles, buffeted by disaster, needs to have a bigger argument about its biggest challenge: how and whether the city government, after a half-century of shirking basic responsibilities, might start doing fundamental tasks again. Joe Mathews, The Mercury News, 25 Jan. 2025 Some worry that the government is shirking its responsibility to provide public services, instead expecting local citizens to fund such projects with remittance money. Whitney Eulich, The Christian Science Monitor, 27 Jan. 2025 For seven seasons, Dr. Joan Watson played an active role in the socialization of the recently sober Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller), quickly shirking the job assigned to her by his father and becoming a full-fledged consulting detective. Rory Doherty, Vulture, 24 Jan. 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

Dictionary Entries Near shirk

Cite this Entry

“Shirk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shirk. Accessed 21 Feb. 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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