SHIRKS Synonyms: 86 Similar and Opposite Words

shirks

verb

present tense third-person singular of shirk

as in avoids

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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in neglects

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

as in lurks

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

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of shirks Mbappe is right that pressing is a team effort, and one player who never shirks that effort is Valverde, whose endeavour was rewarded with surely the easiest goal of his career. — Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026 The Buñuelian skeptic in me also shirks at Fried’s approving references to Diderot’s petite église invisible, the small hidden church whose members—painters, critics, curators, patrons—are the vision-gifted serious pursuers of art history. — Carlos Valladares, ARTnews.com, 14 Aug. 2026 Nick, desperate to return to the present, shirks the doting parents and brother who long to comfort him. — Sam Bodrojan, IndieWire, 17 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for shirks

Verb

Resolving the case avoids a trial where Merrill intended to defend its rates as standard among bank sweep programs, arguing that sweep accounts are meant for short-term liquidity rather than long-term investment yield.

— Chase Jordan October 6, Charlotte Observer, 6 Oct. 2026
The shorter route could significantly reduce transportation costs and also avoids geopolitical chokepoints such as the Strait of Hormuz, Yoo said.

— Jenny Lee, CNBC, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of avoids

Verb

Both lawsuits seek damages based on a Missouri law that allows lawsuits against the secretary of state if the officeholder neglects their duties.

— Jack Harvel, Kansas City Star, 18 Sep. 2026
But the directive conspicuously neglects to mention local air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions associated with data centers.

— Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of neglects

Verb

The Spurs superstar lurks down low near the basket, allowing guards to pressure aggressively on the perimeter.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2026
Clements sets the scene with lively pop music and excellent period-specific costuming, though darkness lurks beneath the funky 1970s groove.

— Marya E. Gates, IndieWire, 13 Sep. 2026

Definition of lurks

Verb

Neither of those interpretations would be entirely invalid, exactly, and yet The Basics of Philosophy — ironically enough, given its title — mostly evades any such moral didacticism.

— Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 4 Sep. 2026
Journalists and negotiators follow up when someone evades the point.

— Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business Review, 2 Sep. 2026

Definition of evades

Verb

Owen Wilson plays an overprotective dad who sneaks his 13-year-old son (Christian Convery) into the festival.

— Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 2 Oct. 2026
The titular bed trick refers to the literary device, beloved by Shakespeare and by opera buffa, in which a lover sneaks into a bed and, under cover of darkness, is taken for someone else.

— S. C. Cornell, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of sneaks

Verb

At the end, however, Mary escapes the train and is given a second chance to live.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 7 Oct. 2026
The cost of a homegrown tool, including an error that escapes into production, say on a manufacturing line or in a financial services security breach, is huge.

— Dan Faulkner, Forbes.com, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of escapes

Verb

The consideration worth making when delegating this is who has the credibility to hold the rest of the organization accountable when CRM hygiene slips or definitions get quietly reinterpreted.

— Kylie Fuentes, Forbes.com, 1 Oct. 2026
Taylor’s success on its own isn’t enough to redeem this season for the Sky, who haven’t made the playoffs since 2023 and whose relevance slips further with each loss and each draft pick that fails to hit.

— Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of slips

Browse Nearby Words

shirking

shirks

shirtdress

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“Shirks.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shirks. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of shirks

verb

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