Word of the Day

Saturday, July 29, 2006

eschew

\es-CHOO\ , transitive verb;

To shun; to avoid (as something wrong or distasteful).

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Quotes:

In high school and college the Vassar women had enjoyed that lifestyle, but afterward they had eschewed it as shallow.

-- Nina Burleigh, A Very Private Woman

While teaching in Beijing, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang in the late 1920s, he helped launch what became known as the "new poetry" movement, which eschewed traditional forms and encouraged topics based on everyday life.

-- Bruce Gilley, Tiger on the Brink

Finally, the first American diplomats . . . made a point of eschewing fancy dress, titles, entertainments, and all manner of protocol, so as to be walking, talking symbols of republican piety.

-- Walter A. McDougall, Promised Land, Crusader State

Origin:

Eschew comes from Old French eschiver, ultimately of Germanic origin.