eschew

From Middle English eschewen, from Anglo-Norman eschiver (third-person present eschiu), from Frankish *sciuhan (“to dread, shun, avoid”), from Proto-Germanic *skiuhwijaną (“to frighten”). Cognate with Old High German sciuhen (“to frighten off”), German scheuen (“eschew”) (German scheuchen (“shoo”)), and Spanish esquivar. More at shy.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɛsˈtʃuː/,[1] /ɪsˈtʃuː/[1][2][3], /ɪʃˈtʃuː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɛsˈtʃu/,[4][5][6] /ɪsˈtʃu/,[4][7] /ɛsˈtʃju/[6]

  Audio (US)

  (file)

  (US, sometimes proscribed) IPA^(key): /ɛˈʃu/,[4] /ɪˈʃu/[4] or /ɛˈskju/[4][8]

  Garner's Modern American Usage prefers /s.tʃ/, proscribes /ʃ/, and does not recognize /sk/.

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

eschew (third-person singular simple present eschews, present participle eschewing, simple past and past participle eschewed)

1. (transitive, formal) To avoid; to shun, to shy away from.

• The verb eschew is not normally applied to the avoidance or shunning of a person or physical object, but rather, only to the avoidance or shunning of an idea, concept, or other intangible.

• c. 1597, William Shakespeare, “The Merry VViues of VVindsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals):

  What cannot be eschew'd must be embrac'd.

• 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, 1 Peter 3:11:

  Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.

• 1927, H. P. Lovecraft, "The Horror at Red Hook"

  He could afford no servants, and would admit but few visitors to his absolute solitude; eschewing close friendships and receiving his rare acquaintances in one of the three ground-floor rooms which he kept in order.

• 2014 November 14, Blake Bailey, “'Tennessee Williams,' by John Lahr [print version: Theatrical victory of art over life, International New York Times, 18 November 2014, p. 13]”, in The New York Times‎:

  [S]he [Edwina, mother of Tennessee Williams] was indeed Amanda [Wingfield, character in Williams' play The Glass Menagerie] in the flesh: a doughty chatterbox from Ohio who adopted the manner of a Southern belle and eschewed both drink and sex to the greatest extent possible.

• eschewment
• umbeschew

• shy

• Schewe