shun

¹ American  

[shuhn] / ʃʌn /

verb (used with object)

shunned, shunning

1. to keep away from (a place, person, object, etc.), from motives of dislike, caution, etc.; take pains to avoid.

   Synonyms:

   eschew, evade

   Antonyms:

   seek

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Shun ² American  

[shoon] / ʃun /

noun

Wade-Giles, Pinyin.

1. Yao1

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'shun ¹ British  

/ ʃʌn /

interjection

1. military a clipped form of attention

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shun ² British  

/ ʃʌn /

verb

1. (tr) to avoid deliberately; keep away from

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Other Word Forms

• shunnable adjective
• shunner noun
• unshunnable adjective

Etymology

Origin of shun

First recorded before 950; Middle English shunen, Old English scunian “to avoid, fear”

Example Sentences

In November, executives said the chain had attracted more upper-income consumers, while lower-income customers continued to shun dining out.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 11, 2026

The government has already urged big tech firms to shun some Nvidia chips over cybersecurity and other concerns.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 23, 2025

Unless your mom’s budget-conscious philosophy of making everything from scratch led her to shun most pre-fab meals, as mine did.

From Salon • Oct. 25, 2025

Eugenics plays prominently in the rhetoric being generated and is derivative of a legacy that good medicine and science should continue to shun.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 9, 2025

Shuttled from one specialist to the next, the girl had been prescribed to shun garlic, consume disproportionate quantities of bitters, meditate, drink green coconut water, and swallow raw duck’s eggs beaten in milk.

From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri

Related Words

• despise
• disdain
• eschew
• neglect
• pass up
• refuse
• reject
• scorn
• snub