First recorded before 950; Middle English shunen, Old English scunian “to avoid, fear”
If you purposely stay away from someone, you shun that person. A sensitive baker may ask why you are shunning her cookies. Although the verb shun means to deliberately avoid anything, it has a specific meaning in certain groups and communities. In this case, it means to ostracize or expel from that group or community. The Amish, for example, may shun members of their order who repeatedly ignore the beliefs and rules of Amish society. The word may also be used in more casual group settings. After many attempts at being polite, you and your friends began to shun the obnoxious classmate who never let you get a word in edgewise.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The universe, it’s all mathematics and science, and I shouldn’t shun the science of music just because I think the inspiration is all it should be.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
Nor should it shun folks from the baking community.
From Salon ● Jun. 14, 2026
Totalling around 1,200 people, these include the Nicobarese as well as the Shompen, hunter-gatherers who shun contact with outsiders, who Survival describes as "one of the most isolated peoples on Earth."
From Barron's ● May 18, 2026
Others continue to shun the state despite winning big concessions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 22, 2026
“And if we listen, the desert will take us. Towns will shun us. Water has become mud in our mouths. Food will become ash.”
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
Shun short-term trading, and stay away from exotic funds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
Japanese bronze medallist Shun Sato on Friday blamed the "toxic schedule" of Olympic men's figure skating for US favourite Ilia Malinin's shocking slump off the podium.
From Barron's ● Feb. 14, 2026
While Japan’s Shun Sato scored a season’s best 194.86 to finish the competition, he could not match the technical prowess of Malinin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2026
To determine which explanation fits, Hideki Asada, a theoretical physicist and Professor at Hirosaki University, and Shun Yamamoto, a researcher at the Graduate School of Science and Technology, Hirosaki University, have proposed a new approach.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 15, 2025
I fear, Shun, faith — look ye, I fear he is fled from some tyrant Master, which is Capt. Draper’s Belief.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
The national temperament is cautious and bent to 'shun the falsehood of extremes.'
From The Winning of Popular Government A Chronicle of the Union of 1841 by MacMechan, Archibald
Rubio, on his first-ever visit to India, flew to Agra and spent 45 minutes at the Taj Mahal with his wife Jeanette, who usually shuns the spotlight.
From Barron's ● May 25, 2026
In the 2026 hellscape of sports betting and doom-scrolling, however, it’s the rare wholesome one: It shuns phones, keeps the mind sharp and gives grandma a prime opportunity to thump the young ’uns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
Scott follows an almost entirely vegan diet, shuns processed foods, and prefers to fast in the mornings.
From Slate ● Mar. 30, 2026
The rapper typically shuns the media, but told the Financial Times while he was on the campaign trail he would be "the candidate for all of Nepal".
From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2026
And yet, whenever his pain made him harden his heart against her and bid himself, “Milk the ewe you have; why pursue what shuns you?”
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
Once she settles in, the girl befriends other spirits and wins them over with her acceptance and understanding — including a few shunned by everyone else, like the famous No-Face.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
But one aspect of a fair justice system is for wrongdoers to face proportionate consequences—not to be shunned forever, but to be expected to own up, make amends, and, sometimes, pay a penalty.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
There is some concern that REITs, known for their relatively high dividend yields, will be shunned by some income-seeking investors, given worries that stubborn inflation will lead to higher interest rates.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
The sportswriters who selected the members of the Baseball Hall of Fame unaccountably shunned him too; Klein got less than 3% of the vote in 1948, his first year of eligibility.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
Old-fashioned value investors shunned options because options presumed an ability to time price movements in undervalued stocks.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
The 2019-founded company builds AI models for businesses and governments, shunning the consumer applications explored by its giant American rivals.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
I remember thinking her diatribe about the injustice of Hester Prynne’s shunning would segue into the cruelties Charles faced with the goal of inspiring someone to defy the blacklist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
Some investors are shunning private-credit funds, but billions of dollars are still flowing into funds with a big software exposure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
Retail investors became net sellers of individual stocks for the first time in nine months, shunning energy and other tech sectors.
From Barron's ● Mar. 26, 2026
I was waiting for her to apologize, but she never did because she didn’t even notice I Was shunning her.
From "Kira-Kira" by Cynthia Kadohata
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
