shirk

[ shurk ]

See synonyms for: shirk shirking on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

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

verb (used without object)

to evade work, duty, etc.

noun

a shirker.

Origin of shirk

First recorded in 1625–35; obscurely akin to shark²

Other words for shirk

1	shun, avoid, dodge

See synonyms for shirk on Thesaurus.com

Other words from shirk

un·shirked, adjective
un·shirk·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use shirk in a sentence

Effortlessly shirking the corruption scandal, Rangel remained king for the night.
Charlie Rangel Dances On | Gideon Resnick | June 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
What are some of the responsibilities that maybe Google or Facebook or companies such as this have been shirking?
The Internet Won’t Save Us: Evgeny Morozov’s Stand Against Technology Solutionism | Robert Herritt | March 5, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
The biggest pre-election issue, Haredi sponging and shirking of military service, was captured by Yair Lapid.
What Went Wrong For Netanyahu | Bernard Avishai | January 21, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
"Netanyahu is scared, fickle and shirking responsibility," Diskin says in the interview.
A Brutal Leak from Israeli Security | David Frum | January 4, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Foreplay-shirking leads to the dissatisfaction of one partner, leading to less sex and potentially a breakup of the team.
Dr. Ruth Westheimer: What Jeremy Lin, Basketball Teach Us About Sex | Dr. Ruth Westheimer | February 24, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST

This result comes only to those who carry out all the directions with genuine alacrity—not shirking one of them.
Assimilative Memory | Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)
Neither would stoop to stinting or to shirking, neither would give the other an inch of ground for complaint.
Cabin Fever | B. M. Bower
It sufficed to dispel my horror of a system from which I had an instinctive shirking.
Autobiographical Reminiscences with Family Letters and Notes on Music | Charles Gounod
He'll go on shirking just the way he's begun if I give him the chance.
The Opened Shutters | Clara Louise Burnham
And in some cases he found them shirking their duties, and asking permission to return 261to England on trivial pleas.
British Quarterly Review, American Edition, Volume LIV | Various

British Dictionary definitions for shirk (1 of 2)

shirk¹

/ (ʃɜːk) /

verb

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

nounAlso: shirker

a person who shirks

Origin of shirk

C17: probably from German Schurke rogue; see shark ²

British Dictionary definitions for shirk (2 of 2)

shirk²

/ (ʃɪːk) /

noun

Islam
- the fundamental sin of regarding anything as equal to Allah
- any belief that is considered to be in opposition to Allah and Islam

Origin of shirk

from Arabic: association

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Browse