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

Rather than shun the growing underground of youthful hackers, he had been attending meetings of the Homebrew Computer Club, where young Altair and Commodore users met to trade their tiny software programs and swap lore.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026

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

This time around, Chinese officials have so far stopped short of urging customers to shun Nvidia.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 6, 2026

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

And I can also understand why he would shun taking on such a tremendous responsibility.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey

Related Words

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