1
as in avoided
to get or keep away from (as a responsibility) through cleverness or trickery
you always try to shirk paying your fair share of the bill by claiming you "forgot" your wallet
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in neglected
to leave undone or unattended to especially through carelessness
a deadbeat who has been shirking his duty to his family for years
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in sneaked
to move about in a sly or secret manner
given the multitude of auditoriums at the multiplex, it's not too difficult for underaged kids to shirk into R-rated movies
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of shirked
Rudnev shirked money, power, and influence, of any kind.
—
William Jones, USA Today, 20 Feb. 2026
Importers are supposed to notify Cal Fire when a shipment arrives, but a Bee investigation found that the companies linked to the Esparto property shirked that requirement for years.
—Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 22 Jan. 2026
In the court’s majority opinion, Justice Amy Coney Barrett forcefully pushed back against Jackson’s suggestion the court shirked on its duty to protect the people from government overreach.
—Ella Lee, The Hill, 27 June 2025
William Jones, USA Today, 20 Feb. 2026
Importers are supposed to notify Cal Fire when a shipment arrives, but a Bee investigation found that the companies linked to the Esparto property shirked that requirement for years.
—Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 22 Jan. 2026
In the court’s majority opinion, Justice Amy Coney Barrett forcefully pushed back against Jackson’s suggestion the court shirked on its duty to protect the people from government overreach.
—Ella Lee, The Hill, 27 June 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shirked
Verb
-
China Tehran has largely avoided targeting ships linked to China.—
Anniek Bao,
CNBC,
18 Mar. 2026
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More practical encryption schemes avoided the need for in-person meetings but relied on unproven assumptions about the difficulty of certain math problems.—
Ben Brubaker,
Quanta Magazine,
18 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Kanaiyah's story At age 16, Kanaiyah Ward took her own life inside a Marriott hotel near the Johns Hopkins Hospital campus last year after state investigators found she was neglected by the caretaker who was supposed to supervise her with hourly checks.—
Mike Hellgren,
CBS News,
19 Mar. 2026
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For patients living with rare and neglected diseases, the next breakthrough treatment might already be sitting in a pharmaceutical company’s filing cabinet.—
Annette Bakker,
Fortune,
19 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The prosecutor said Serafini snuck into his in-laws’ Homewood residence on the west shore of Lake Tahoe while nobody was home.—
Rosalio Ahumada,
Sacbee.com,
17 Mar. 2026
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My brother Mike knew a maintenance engineer who snuck me in to Seals & Crofts’ studio.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
15 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The ball fell to Ludmila, who evaded her defender and fired a shot toward goal, but the attempt sailed upward.—
Fernando Ramirez,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
15 Mar. 2026
-
Cheaply produced one-way Iranian attack drones have successfully evaded billion-dollar air defense systems.—
Laura Kelly,
The Hill,
13 Mar. 2026
Verb
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As Leclerc and Russell exchanged moves for the lead through the opening stages, Hamilton lurked just behind, waiting for any opportunity that may arise.—
Luke Smith,
New York Times,
10 Mar. 2026
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Jokic has fed him hundreds of alley-oops late in games when Gordon has lurked in the short corner, behind the last line of defense.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
6 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Here’s the moment a British reporter from Russian state broadcaster RT narrowly escaped serious injury or death when an Israeli missile landed just meters away from his reporting position.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
19 Mar. 2026
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Soft, airy curls escaped the braids on either side of her face and in the mid-lengths, adding a romantic, springy texture.—
Kara Nesvig,
Allure,
17 Mar. 2026
Verb
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No outside agencies or businesses will be able to directly hire off-duty police officers through the scheduling platform RollKall after police say a man impersonating law enforcement and killed by SWAT officers earlier this month slipped through the cracks.—
Devyani Chhetri,
Dallas Morning News,
20 Mar. 2026
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In a September Gallup poll, support had slipped to 47%, with another 47% calling such research morally wrong.—
Jen Christensen,
CNN Money,
20 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Her shot slid right past Anna Moorhouse to put the Summit up 1-0.—
Kyle Foley,
The Orlando Sentinel,
21 Mar. 2026
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For talking purposes Crane slid her prototype onto a table holding a number of others, and retreated to the radiator.—
thehustle.co,
thehustle.co,
20 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Shirked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shirked. Accessed 22 Mar. 2026.
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