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junk

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verb

Synonym Chooser

How is the word junk different from other verbs like it?

Some common synonyms of junk are cast, discard, scrap, shed, and slough. While all these words mean "to get rid of," scrap and junk imply throwing away or breaking up as worthless in existent form.

scrap all the old ways
would junk our educational system

When is it sensible to use cast instead of junk?

The meanings of cast and junk largely overlap; however, cast, especially when used with off, away, or out, implies a forceful rejection or repudiation.

cast off her friends

Where would discard be a reasonable alternative to junk?

Although the words discard and junk have much in common, discard implies the letting go or throwing away of something that has become useless or superfluous though often not intrinsically valueless.

discard old clothes

How do shed and slough relate to one another, in the sense of junk?

Shed and slough imply a throwing off of something both useless and encumbering and often suggest a consequent renewal of vitality or luster.

shed a bad habit
finally sloughed off the depression

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of junk
Noun
The same questions have animated the life of Anthony Fauci, whose early career was spent arguing with activists over what was and wasn’t junk science in relation to a mysterious new malady known as AIDS. Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 23 May 2025 So Otter Pup 2 will be an instructive test for Starfish Space, which aims to provide a variety of services with Otters — for example, refueling some satellites to extend their operational lives and de-orbiting others to reduce the space junk population. Mike Wall, Space.com, 21 May 2025
Verb
Instead, CEOs and deans are letting right-wing activists bully them into junking the whole project. The Week Uk, theweek, 15 Dec. 2024 EVs are so new to the market that few have been junked—and even those are often snapped up for uses such as off-grid power storage. Vince Beiser, WIRED, 30 Nov. 2024 See All Example Sentences for junk
Recent Examples of Synonyms for junk
Noun
  • Add the shredded cheese towards the end to help prevent the cheese from breaking.
    Jasmine Smith, Southern Living, 1 June 2025
  • The menu will largely mirror the food offerings at the other restaurants, featuring such specialties as glazed pork belly, mac and cheese that includes a five-cheese fondue, lamb hummus and an assortment of pizzas.
    Lori Weisberg, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 May 2025
Noun
  • Duluth, Minnesota, has installed effective and unobtrusive signs at each beach entrance next to a garbage receptacle.
    John Michael Pierobon, Sun Sentinel, 25 May 2025
  • Allegiance The Resistance, led by General Leia Organa, regroups on the garbage planet Anoat, while Finn and Poe go on a secret mission to retrieve a weapons cache to increase their dwindling arsenal.
    Nick Romano, EW.com, 25 May 2025
Verb
  • Credential dumps from breached companies are traded daily on the dark web.
    Zak Doffman, Forbes.com, 6 June 2025
  • Police accused the man of dumping a large container of eggs on his head in front of the Ralph’s Italian Ice in Centereach on the night of April 29.
    Anthony Robledo, USA Today, 5 June 2025
Noun
  • And oftentimes, these cheap items end up as rubbish.
    Ramishah Maruf, CNN Money, 16 Apr. 2025
  • This never got past the drawing board stage, but the idea kept cropping up again and again with many variations on a circular shape and performance that spanned from interesting to rubbish.
    David Szondy, New Atlas, 29 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Fortunately, the lighter rainfall levels have decreased the risk of a debris flow taking place in the Eaton and Palisades fire burn scars, a possibility forecasters warned of Monday.
    Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 4 June 2025
  • Satellite imagery showing two Russian A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft with tires and debris on the wings at the Ivanovo air base, Russia, on May 3, 2025.
    Ellie Cook, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 June 2025
Verb
  • Disposable paper dresses enjoyed a brief vogue in the turbulent late 1960s, when young people literally wore their politics and interests on their sleeves—but were prepared to discard them as easily as a piece of Kleenex.
    Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 May 2025
  • The first-stage booster that had been tapped during the original attempts was discarded for a new booster.
    Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 27 May 2025
Noun
  • My trash fee could exceed $2,000 per year — for service that used to cost nothing.
    Steven Cordova, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 June 2025
  • Your town may have a trash pickup walk, a Thanksgiving turkey trot or a stroll to historic sites.
    Elizabeth Passarella, New York Times, 6 June 2025
Noun
  • And those planets had access to plenty of fresh water—water that had several routes to reach them, from comet and asteroid impacts to icy dust being imprisoned within the planets as they were being built.
    Robin George Andrews, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 May 2025
  • The thin layer of Saharan dust that could limit Friday’s soaking will dissipate over the weekend, but the moisture should linger, Torres-Vasquez said.
    Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, 30 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Junk.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/junk. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.

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