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

---

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

Etymology

Origin of shirk

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

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

There’s a spiritual community that uses spirituality to shirk responsibility.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2025

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

But whether or not Valentin wanted to be there leading the 587th, and whether or not they wanted him there, he wasn’t going to shirk his responsibility as a commander.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

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

But everything up to this point shows he never shirks a challenge, and he usually finds success.

From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2025

Lawmakers had vowed to tackle the long-acknowledged fact that Washington shirks its obligation to cover the aides, therapy, special schools and other accommodations that 158,863 children with disabilities need in order to learn.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 7, 2023

He persistently shirks the perilous task of a direct attack, and perseveres in his assumption of the safe rôle of the accuser's legal representative.

From The Apologia and Florida of Apuleius of Madaura by Harold Edgeworth Butler

The 437-page report written by a panel of three judges in 2021 found that the state had shirked its duty to protect Caruana Galizia and subjected her to personal attacks and verbal abuse from politicians.

From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 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

George accepted the situation, asked no favours, and shirked no duty, but lived in the forecastle, and fared as the rest fared there.

From The Twa Miss Dawsons by Margaret M. (Margaret Murray) Robertson

You could never accuse Formula 1 of shirking a challenge.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 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

BC Smith calls “Phasmagorica” an “experiment,” shirking at the word performance.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2025

Not long after Fischer reached Kruse and began the troublesome descent to Base Camp, they encountered Boukreev at the top of the Icefall, ascending alone, and Fischer harshly reprimanded the guide for shirking his responsibilities.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer