shirk
/ʃɝk/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.66 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To evade an obligation; to avoid the performance of duty, as by running away.
Intransitive verb
noun
One who shirks, who avoids a duty or responsibility.
noun
The unforgivable sin of association (claiming something or someone can share in the oneness of God).
Uncountable
name
A surname.
Example Sentences
- "the usual makeshift by which they try to shirk difficulties"
- "Back in school, you ever get busted for trynna walk and have some administrator tell you / "Son, you can shirk your obligations, / and try to be different from your peers, / but responsibility, your future / is gonna find you!""
- "If you have a job, don't shirk from it by staying off work."
- "September 7, 1830, Lord Byron, letter to Mr. Murray One of the cities shirked from the league."
- "Shapiro and Stiglitz (1984) develop a dynamic model in which firms induce workers to work hard by paying high wages and threatening to fire workers caught shirking."
- "You that never heard the call of any vocation, […] that shirk living from others, but time from yourselves."
Etymology
First use appears c. 1633, in the publications of Shackerley Marmion, apparently from association with shark (verb), or otherwise directly from German Schurke (“rogue, knave”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: Schurke
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ʃɝk/
- British English: /ʃɜːk/