Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To avoid deliberately; keep away from. See Synonyms at escape.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To detest; abhor; shrink from.
- To go or keep away from; keep out of the neighborhood of; avoid.
- To try to escape from; attempt to elude, generally with success; hence, to evade; escape.
- To refrain from; eschew; neglect; refuse.
- To shove; push. Bailey, 1731; Halliwell.
- To shrink back; fall back; retreat.
- To avoid or evade danger or injury.
- To withhold action or participation; refrain, as from doing something.
Wiktionary
- v. To avoid, especially persistently.
- v. To escape (a threatening evil, an unwelcome task etc).
- v. To screen, hide.
- v. To shove, push.
- nonstandard spelling of Latn (“shǔn”).
- nonstandard spelling of Latn (“shùn”).
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To avoid; to keep clear of; to get out of the way of; to escape from; to eschew.
WordNet 3.0
- v. expel from a community or group
- v. avoid and stay away from deliberately; stay clear of
Etymologies
- Middle English shunnen, from Old English scunian, to abhor.
Examples
“Did anybody notice Palin shun Fey at the end of the show?”
“The thing I like about this list of records-to-shun is that it avoids the obvious targets (Manilow, Kenny G) and goes after worshipped bands like Nirvana and Green Day.”
“Most significantly, of course, Bishop's poem supplies the missing moral of Wordsworth's tale of a rural village's deliberate "shun" - ning of the outcast woman's loss and pain: "Love should be put into action!”
Elizabeth Bishop and the Wordsworth of _Lyrical Ballads_: Sentimentalism, Straw Men, and Misprision
“Shunning is a non-action -- to shun is to avoid, not to interact.”
The Huffington Post: Janice Harper: A Reason (and Season) to Stop Shunning
“However, Paladino was not the party leader's choice and he, too, will learn first hand what the word 'shun' means.”
The Huffington Post: Jerry Kremer: Shunning: The New GOP Mantra
“Also, it would appear that he's not fully cognizant of the meaning of "shun".”
The Huffington Post: Tallulah Morehead: Big Brother 12: The Puppetry of the Pea-Brains.
“Maybe its because the fans want Kristen and Rob to be together because they are our Bella and Edward, and maybe she has to kind of shun him to show that she is very happy in her current/long realtionship.”
“But by god, there were so many people willing to "shun" the "pike" that the road got a name.”
“Suits filed yesterday by the Arizona Attorney General against two restaurant owners raise the interesting question of how far members of religious groups can go in implementing a religious decision to excommunicate or "shun" a fellow member without violating civil rights laws.”
“His "Stind at ---- ice" electrified everyone; unlike poor old Aitken, whose staccato and rapid "Company company 'shun'" was never heard by anyone!”
The Fife and Forfar Yeomanry and 14th (F. & F. Yeo.) Battn. R.H. 1914-1919
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘shun’.
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Archaic
abide, abjure, abroad, adamant, afield, aforetime, aghast, anon, apace, argent, assuage, aught and 327 more...
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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Public List: Two by Fives
This is an experiment in public lists--something I've been thinking about for some time. The goal is to create a collection of short, powerful, evocative words.
This is an open list. A...icy, howl, hymn, thorn, fire, vile, mist, blunt, scum, dark, shot, gleam and 137 more...
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The weird, the wonderful and the plain hilarious
Loved for their ingenuity, an exact description, or simply for the pure joy of it.
acidulous, aprosdoketon, higgledy-piggledy, lexicographical, ninja, audacious, somnabulist, shivaree, amorphous, quidnunc, glib, melancholy and 353 more...
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food collection
bread, peel, pot, chorizo, Filet, olive, fill, Phyllo, dough, bake, mat, pinot and 988 more...
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Undo
A list of terms that denote separating one thing from another, or deconstructing a thing into its parts or to a former state. E.g., untie, divorce, unscramble.
untie, divorce, unscramble, disunite, disjoin, undo, separate, disassemble, uncouple, unhitch, disassociate, disaffiliate and 178 more...
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Duck!
If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, or quacks like a duck, then you should probably list it here.
duck, Duck, turducken, duckling, duck tape, Mallard, rubber duckie, Daffy Duck, Donald Duck, lame duck, ducky, ducks and 80 more...
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Do More Than Hate
A list of words for describing dislike, reproval or criticism.
belabor, malevolent, reprobate, ire, anger, rage, fury, choler, indignance, grame, scorn, geck and 23 more...
teengagegeek Shun the non-believer!
Shunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn...
N. Sep 24, 2008