shun
verb (used with object)
to keep away from (a place, person, object, etc.), from motives of dislike, caution, etc.; take pains to avoid.
shun
1 American
[shuhn]
/ ʃʌn /
verb (used with object)
-
shuns,
present (3rd person singular)
-
shunned,
past participle, past
-
shunning
present participle
Shun
2
American
[shoon]
/ ʃun /
noun
Wade-Giles, Pinyin.
'shun
1
British
/ ʃʌn /
interjection
shun
2
British
/ ʃʌn /
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
shunsimple
-
shunssimple
-
have shunnedperfect
-
has shunnedperfect
-
am shunningprogressive
-
are shunningprogressive
-
is shunningprogressive
-
have been shunningperfect progressive
-
has been shunningperfect progressive
Past
-
shunnedsimple
-
had shunnedperfect
-
was shunningprogressive
-
were shunningprogressive
-
had been shunningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of shun
First recorded before 950; Middle English shunen, Old English scunian “to avoid, fear”
Explanation
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.
Vocabulary lists containing shun
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
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Persepolis
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Beowulf: A New Telling
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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.
See Examples For:
It’s not something to shun and shy away and run away from.
From Slate ● Sep. 29, 2026
The coffeehouse opened in June near a neighbourhood of ultra-Orthodox Jews, who strictly shun working, exchanging money and using electricity on Saturdays.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
You don't need to shun your favourite coffee either just because it's hot - although too much caffeine can make the body produce more urine, and leave you dehydrated.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
Chief Financial Officer Roxanne Warner said U.S. consumer confidence nosedived after the war, leading shoppers to shun higher-priced models.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026
What if the other students shun me because I’m so much older than them?
From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau
Ping Shun, another sanctioned vessel owned by a company based in Shandong in China which normally exports to that country, loaded 600,000 barrels of oil from Kharg and is also in the Gulf of Oman.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 11, 2026
Japan's Yuma Kagiyama, second after the short programme, also fell during his routine, but took silver ahead of compatriot Shun Sato who moved up from ninth.
From Barron's ● Feb. 14, 2026
Shun the airport for Interstate 5, where no one could see how I fit into my bucket seat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 2026
A search and rescue operation is underway to find the remaining six Burmese sailors who were reported missing after their Tanzania-flagged cargo ship Fu Shun went down off the northern coast of Taiwan.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2024
You are welcome to Shem, Shun, when he returns Home decorated — his feet like Hives a-weeping Honey.
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 Archibald MacMechan
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
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
However much the shocking destruction of neighborhoods, of favorite haunts and of classic L.A. architecture reminds us to cherish history, L.A. remains a city that cavalierly shuns history.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2025
“He seeks revenge, and yet he shuns it.”
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
Vote counting was under way early Friday after an unusual English by-election shunned by mainstream parties, pitting influential hard-right leader Nigel Farage against Count Binface, a man with a rubbish bin on his head.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
Political parties have traditionally shunned meddling in races where they lack a candidate of their own, experts said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
"I probably would have had a little bit more time in between to recover, I pretty much shunned the back-to-back because we need to go back to work," she said.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 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
Poor Bell was shunned and looked upon by the whole community as a murderer.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
The First Amendment prevents government censorship, but one reason there are social penalties, including criticism, shunning and firing for hateful rhetoric, is that it is not, in fact, harmless.
From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2026
On a sector basis, only semiconductors are meaningfully owned, mostly as a consequence of ASML, while investors are shunning automakers.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
Others accused them of romanticising self isolation and encouraging an "air of cosy defeatism" by shunning social connections.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 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
I thought I had truly suffered from the spillover of Stargirl’s shunning, but that was nothing now that the full torrent was turned on me.
From "Stargirl" by Jerry Spinelli
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.
