shirk

American  

[shurk] / ʃɜrk /

verb (used with object)

• shirks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• shirked,
  past participle,  past
• shirking
  present participle

1. 

   to evade (work, duty, responsibility, etc.).

   Synonyms:

   dodge, avoid, shun

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verb (used without object)

• shirks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• shirked,
  past participle,  past
• shirking
  present participle

1. to evade work, duty, etc.

noun

1. a shirker.

shirk ¹ British  

/ ʃɪːk /

noun

1. Islam

   1. the fundamental sin of regarding anything as equal to Allah

   2. any belief that is considered to be in opposition to Allah and Islam

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shirk ² British  

/ ʃɜːk /

verb

1. to avoid discharging (work, a duty, etc); evade

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noun

1. a person who shirks

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unshirked
  adjective
• unshirking
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• shirking
  present
• shirked
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• shirk
  simple
• shirks
  simple
• have shirked
  perfect
• has shirked
  perfect
• am shirking
  progressive
• are shirking
  progressive
• is shirking
  progressive
• have been shirking
  perfect progressive
• has been shirking
  perfect progressive

Past

• shirked
  simple
• had shirked
  perfect
• was shirking
  progressive
• were shirking
  progressive
• had been shirking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will shirk
  simple
• will have shirked
  perfect
• will be shirking
  progressive
• will have been shirking
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of shirk

First recorded in 1625–35; obscurely akin to shark ²

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Explanation

To shirk your responsibilities is to avoid dealing with them — like when you watch four consecutive hours of infomercials instead of facing your homework. A verb is an action word, so it's ironic that the verb shirk suggests inaction in the avoidance of work. To shirk carries with it a negative connotation of laziness. When Eleanor Roosevelt was asked how she conquered her shyness to become a powerful public figure, she responded, "I faced each problem as it came along. . . . I never tried to shirk. I tried never to evade an issue. When I found I had something to do — I just did it." Ah, Eleanor, why can't we all be a bit more like you?

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shirk shirks shirked shirking

The government's counsel, Jenkin Suen, told the inquiry that authorities would not shirk responsibility and pledged "systemic reforms".

From Barron's ● Mar. 24, 2026

And yet, both Andie and Iona shirk their individuality for stability, leaving those singular, oh-so-charming elements of their characters in the dust when wealthy men come calling.

From Salon ● Feb. 28, 2026

Courts can step in, he said, only if prosecutors have bad-faith reasons for such decisions, such as taking bribes or wanting to shirk their work.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025

Separately, two state legislators representing the Anaheim area asked state auditors last year to determine whether the Angels had “been taking steps to shirk responsibility in maintenance.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2025

“Do not be seduced by false glamour; do not shirk your duties; do not wander off alone into the Wood at night.”

From "Ash" by Malinda Lo

Too many misplaced passes but never hides or shirks responsibility.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

But she never shirks from the hard facts of the Du Bois history, or that of blackness in this country.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026

The “experiment” — Smith shirks at the word performance — is designed, he says, for believers and nonbelievers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2025

Everybody else just sort of shirks because they think they own the room.

From Salon ● Nov. 21, 2022

Teaching becomes a secondary affair; the time for it is exhausted in questioning possible shirks.

From The Teacher Essays and Addresses on Education by Alice Freeman Palmer

His analysis held Hong Kong insiders accountable when they abused their power or shirked their responsibilities, whether they were corporate managers or government officials.

From Barron's ● Apr. 7, 2026

“Rather than implement industry-standard detection tools used by its peers, Apple repeatedly shirked their responsibility to protect children under the guise of user privacy,” the West Virginia Attorney General’s Office said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026

But when one vice signals, the out-group’s values take center stage — in order to be shirked rather than lived up to.

From Salon ● Jan. 29, 2026

Heather Oliver, for Mr Berrill, said he had "not shirked the reality of his own misconduct" and had not resigned like the others.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2025

Some Dutchmen of Fort Orange were at the Turtle Castle on an embassy when this unpleasant proposal was made to them, and they thus shirked it.

From The Life and Times of Kateri Tekakwitha The Lily of the Mohawks by Ellen H. Walworth

Without shirking responsibility, the 52-year-old explained that her judgment had been clouded in part by other circumstances in her life.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2026

Employees monitor social-media posts to spot users’ latest methods for shirking their missions, said Jay Shin, chief executive of DelightRoom, the South Korean company behind Alarmy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026

If letting Claude kill people on its own is not shirking oversight mechanisms, then we might reasonably question which “oversight mechanisms” Anthropic is talking about.

From Slate ● Feb. 25, 2026

The board's chair, Ciaran Mulgrew, said it had been across all the problems since before 2023 and he said "no-one is shirking responsibility".

From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2024

"I ken that. I don't like it thought that I'm shirking me duties."

From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood

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