junk

verb

junked; junking; junks

transitive verb

: to get rid of as worthless : scrap

Synonyms of junk

• dump
• discard
• unload
• ditch
• scrap
• lose

Choose the Right Synonym for junk

discard, cast, shed, slough, scrap, junk mean to get rid of.

discard implies the letting go or throwing away of something that has become useless or superfluous though often not intrinsically valueless.

discard old clothes

cast, especially when used with off, away, or out, implies a forceful rejection or repudiation.

cast off her friends

shed and slough imply a throwing off of something both useless and encumbering and often suggest a consequent renewal of vitality or luster.

shed a bad habit

finally sloughed off the depression

scrap and junk imply throwing away or breaking up as worthless in existent form.

scrap all the old ways

would junk our educational system

Examples of junk in a Sentence

We decided to junk our old computer and buy a new one.

we'll have to junk this old car

Recent Examples on the Web

Note that this result doesn’t necessarily mean that the fraud detection should be junked. —Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 26 May 2026

So Squeri junked the scoreboard. —Ruth Umoh, Fortune, 11 May 2026

Sets would be built and then junked only to be rebuilt again at considerable cost due to an overall lack of familiarity with standard Hollywood filmmaking procedures. —Chris Lee, Vulture, 27 Apr. 2026

South Carolina leads with its defense without junking the game. —Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1911, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing junk

• a piece of junk
• junk art
• junk bond
• junk DNA
• junk email
• junk food
• junk mail
• junk sculpture

Rhymes for junk

• bunk
• chunk
• clunk
• drunk
• dunk
• hunk
• punk
• shrunk
• slunk
• spunk
• sunk
• trunk

Video

Some Odd Words with ISMO: "Junk in the Trunk"

Comedian ISMO on what separates a boot from a trunk

Kids Definition

junk

1 of 3 noun

ˈjəŋk 

1

: articles discarded as worthless

2

: something of poor quality : trash

3

slang : narcotic entry 1 sense 1

especially : heroin

junky

ˈjəŋ-kē 

adjective

junk

2 of 3 verb

: to get rid of as worthless : scrap

junk

3 of 3 noun

: a ship of eastern Asia with a high stern and four-cornered sails

Etymology

Middle English jonke "piece of old or worn-out rope"

from Portuguese junco "a Chinese ship"