Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To avoid using, accepting, participating in, or partaking of: synonym: evade.
  • transitive verb To refrain from (doing something).

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Unwilling; disinclined.
  • To refuse to use or participate in; stand aloof from; shun; avoid.
  • To escape from; evade.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To shun; to avoid, as something wrong, or from a feeling of distaste; to keep one's self clear of.
  • transitive verb obsolete To escape from; to avoid.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive, formal To avoid; to shun, to shy away from.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb avoid and stay away from deliberately; stay clear of

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English escheuen, from Old French eschivir, of Germanic origin; akin to shy.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English eschewen, from Anglo-Norman eschiver (third-person present eschiu), from Frankish *sciuhan (“to dread, shun, avoid”), from Proto-Germanic *skiuhwijanan (“to frighten”). Cognate with Old High German sciuhen ("to frighten off"). More at shy.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word eschew.

Examples

  • Full marks for keeping the word 'eschew' in common usage; and who can deny her overall claim to be "fully embracing the competition's aim of creating a tribute to a railway legend with less conventional materials."

    A woolly Pullman from the textile heartland 2011

  • * I am also making daring use of the word "eschew," which is forbidden by some publications as being snooty.

    The Washington Post: National, World & D.C. Area News and Headlines - The Washington Post Anne Midgette 2011

  • What I will eschew is mispoona and rapa senza testa and bianca riccia da taglio and whatever else they can think up for me in the catalogues this winter.

    Jean's Knitting Jean 2009

  • What I will eschew is mispoona and rapa senza testa and bianca riccia da taglio and whatever else they can think up for me in the catalogues this winter.

    Archive 2009-09-01 Jean 2009

  • Did you notice I used your favorite word "eschew"?

    Mariela Dabbah: The Power of a Bilingual Brain Mariela Dabbah 2011

  • Did you notice I used your favorite word "eschew"?

    Mariela Dabbah: The Power of a Bilingual Brain Mariela Dabbah 2011

  • While I highly recommend the print edition of the magazine for the simple reason that the format is handiest for reading in the bathroom, I also understand that there are people who eschew paper "eschew," pronounced "achoo," is an onomatopoeia for sneezing at something.

    Archive 2010-04-01 BikeSnobNYC 2010

  • While I highly recommend the print edition of the magazine for the simple reason that the format is handiest for reading in the bathroom, I also understand that there are people who eschew paper "eschew," pronounced "achoo," is an onomatopoeia for sneezing at something.

    Alarming Data: Number Crunching and Gear Mashing BikeSnobNYC 2010

  • The founding fathers and mothers could well have joined hands with the historical Buddha who urged us to "ESCHEW FEAR" (and probably also with his other two "eschew" s-- social conformity and attachment).

    Paula Gordon: Immigration - Stop Screaming, Start Listening 2008

  • Of course, "eschew" isn't exactly right -- it is monks who eschew the world, in Weber's view.

    Censorship across the Pond: So what? 2006

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Reesetee, is this word on your "Gesundheit" list?

    November 1, 2007

  • Wha...? Weird! I was sure it was, but that handy list to our right says otherwise!

    Okay, now it is. :-)

    November 1, 2007

  • I know, I love that list on the right. It really is very handy!

    November 1, 2007

  • those who follow a macrobiotic diet eschew potatoes

    December 6, 2008

  • Eschew obfuscation!

    October 10, 2010

  • avoid and stay away from deliberately; stay clear of

    Politicians are the masters of eschewing morals; academics are the masters of eschewing clarity.

    October 12, 2016