shun

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ʃʌn/ UK /ʃʌn/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like son /s/ vs /ʃ/ Sounds like sun /s/ vs /ʃ/

Meanings

1

verb
to persistently avoid, ignore, or reject someone or something

After the scandal, former friends began to shun him.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to persistently avoid,... avoid eschew spurn ostracize snub evade

Opposites

embrace welcome seek accept

Word family

Derived forms shunnedshunning

Related forms shunt

Etymology

From Old English scunian ('to avoid, abhor, shun'), of uncertain ultimate origin and with no clear cognates outside English.

scunian Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# shun

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ʃʌn/
**IPA (UK):** /ʃʌn/

## Meanings
1. to persistently avoid, ignore, or reject someone or something

## Examples
- After the scandal, former friends began to shun him.

## Synonyms
- avoid
- eschew
- spurn
- ostracize
- snub
- evade

## Antonyms
- embrace
- welcome
- seek
- accept

## Derived Forms
- shunned
- shunning

## Related Forms
- shunt

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: scunian

## Etymology
From Old English scunian ('to avoid, abhor, shun'), of uncertain ultimate origin and with no clear cognates outside English.

## AI Etymology
Shun comes from Old English scunian ('to avoid, abhor, shun'), of uncertain ultimate origin and with no clear cognates outside English. The historical chain includes Old English scunian. The quoted older sense, "to avoid, abhor, shun," supplies the immediate semantic anchor for shun. The formation is best read as borrowed: the word shun carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a verb, "to persistently avoid, ignore, or reject someone or something". English derivatives include shunned and shunning; related English forms include shunt. The result is a verb whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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