Antonyms for shirk


Grammar : Verb
Spell : shurk
Phonetic Transcription : ʃɜrk


Definition of shirk

Origin :
  • 1630s, "to practice fraud or trickery," also a noun (1630s, now obsolete) "a needy, disreputable parasite" [OED], perhaps from German schurke "scoundrel, rogue, knave, villain" (see shark (n.)). Sense of "evade one's work or duty" first recorded 1785, originally in slang. Related: Shirked; shirking.
  • verb avoid, get out of responsibility
Example sentences :
  • We have duties to others and duties to ourselves; and we can shirk neither.
  • Extract from : « United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches » by Various
  • You work till you are tired of it; then you go off and shirk, and call it studying.
  • Extract from : « The Dominant Strain » by Anna Chapin Ray
  • And here the demagogue arose and bade her shirk no issue, even the red flag.
  • Extract from : « The Prisoner » by Alice Brown
  • I do not court publicity, but I cannot shirk my duty because it entails that.
  • Extract from : « The Crevice » by William John Burns and Isabel Ostrander
  • Sick of life—to tell you the truth; but what would have been the good to shirk it—in—in—that way?
  • Extract from : « Lord Jim » by Joseph Conrad
  • If you put any duty upon women they are not going to shirk it.
  • Extract from : « The History of Woman Suffrage, Volume IV » by Various
  • When it is a scout's duty to do something, he dare not shirk.
  • Extract from : « Boy Scouts Handbook » by Boy Scouts of America
  • Mildred could not shirk the most important task that had yet been asked of her.
  • Extract from : « The Red Cross Girls with the Russian Army » by Margaret Vandercook
  • He had lived as an aristocrat—it was incumbent on him, he said, not to shirk death as one.
  • Extract from : « The False Chevalier » by William Douw Lighthall
  • Bob was not a fellow to shirk when the time of settlement came.
  • Extract from : « Breaking Away » by Oliver Optic

Synonyms for shirk

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019