shun
verb (used with object)
to keep away from (a place, person, object, etc.), from motives of dislike, caution, etc.; take pains to avoid.
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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:
Cat said that while many teenagers shun spending time with their parents, she knows first-hand how lonely it is to not have your parents around.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 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
The latter needs to embrace, not shun, the former.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
“There must be something very wrong,” she sobbed, “for him so to shun the light of day.”
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
Another Japanese skater, Shun Sato, was third on 288.54.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 28, 2026
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
In the men's event, Japan's Shun Sato also retained his title, beating Italy's Daniel Grassl with his "Firebird" routine.
From Barron's ● Oct. 25, 2025
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
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 Archibald MacMechan
"A palace not fit for a King," continues the Daily Express, as King Charles "shuns" Buckingham Palace "despite £369m refurbishment".
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 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
Kouki said he likes using his phone to watch Japanese baseball highlights, but the family now shuns screens during mealtimes.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 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
That ascendance has ratcheted up pressure on corporate leaders to take meetings with a party that many of them previously shunned.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 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
He agreed when I suggested that some of the officers’ persistent image problems were of their own making: They shunned publicity because so often it was bad.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
Brazil's finance minister is shunning the gathering amid tensions with the Trump administration.
From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026
Others accused them of romanticising self isolation and encouraging an "air of cosy defeatism" by shunning social connections.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
Xi has centralized decision-making, shunning foreign counsel for five-year plans, and empowered the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
And Sass isn’t even completely shunning the Magnificent Seven.
From Barron's ● Apr. 7, 2026
I realized now that the shunning would never end.
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.
