Word
Of
The
Day
eschew
eschew \ess-CHOO\
verb
To eschew something is to avoid it, especially because you do not think it is right, proper, or practical.
// Their teacher was known as a
Luddite because he
eschewed the use of smartphones and tablets in the classroom.
See the entry >
Examples:
“Scheduled work shifts [at
Burning Man] were delayed and continually rearranged, causing confusion among campers as to how and when to contribute.... While some of us found ways to help, others took it as an opportunity to
eschew their responsibilities. However, those of us who showed up united, and handled business, did so with
aplomb...” — Morena Duwe,
The Los Angeles Times, 9 Sept. 2024
Did you know?
Something to chew on: there’s no etymological relationship between the verbs
chew and
eschew. While the former comes from the Old English word
cēowan,
eschew comes instead from the Anglo-French verb
eschiver and shares roots with the Old High German verb
sciuhen, meaning “to frighten off.” In his famous dictionary of 1755,
Samuel Johnson characterized
eschew as “almost obsolete.” History has proven that the great lexicographer was wrong on that call, however. Today, following a boom in the word’s usage during the 19th and 20th centuries, English speakers and writers use
eschew when something is avoided less for temperamental reasons than for moral or practical ones, even if misguidedly so, as when
Barry Lopez wrote in his 2019 book
Horizon of ill-fated Antarctic explorer
Robert Falcon Scott, “with an attitude of cultural superiority, eschewing sled dogs for Manchurian ponies....”