shirk
verb (used with object)
to evade (work, duty, responsibility, etc.).
shirking
-
present participleof shirk.present participle
A verb form that is used in progressive verb constructions and may also function as a modifier or a gerund.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
After that is when the singer noticed that kindly dad shirking his duties in “Hot to Go!”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2025
He did his work in the same slow obstinate way as he had done it in Jones’s time, never shirking and never volunteering for extra work either.
From "Animal Farm: A Fairy Story" by George Orwell
