Meaning & use
shorn
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“shorn” is a form of “shear”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
Having had hair or wool cut off close to the skin.
Grammar: Often used before a noun: a shorn sheep. It can also follow a linking verb: his head was shorn.
Patterns
- shorn head
- shorn sheep
The shorn sheep looked small and pale.
She stared at her shorn head in the mirror.
A newly shorn lamb shivered in the cold wind.
adjectiveafter a verbfigurativeliterary
Having lost something that was thought of as belonging to you, such as power, status or decoration.
Grammar: Usually followed by of: shorn of his titles.
Patterns
- shorn of something
The king was shorn of his power.
The song, shorn of its fancy arrangement, sounded even more moving.
The company emerged shorn of its older products.
verbtransitive
Past participle of shear: cut or clipped off.
Grammar: Used after have or be: the wool has been shorn.
Patterns
- have shorn something
- be shorn of something
The farmer has shorn all the sheep before summer.
The branches were shorn from the tree by the wind.
They had shorn the hedge into a perfect square.
Common combinations
- closely shorn
- His hair was closely shorn for the summer.
- freshly shorn
- The freshly shorn sheep ran across the field.
- shorn of power
- The president was shorn of power by the new law.
- shorn of detail
- The story was shorn of detail for young readers.
- shorn scalp
- A shorn scalp showed under the cap.
Synonyms and how they differ
- clipped
- Clipped is a common word for any trimming, while shorn is stronger and suggests close cutting.
- cropped
- Cropped usually describes hair or images cut short, with less sense of loss than shorn.
- stripped
- Stripped suggests the forced removal of anything, including power or rank, and is not limited to cutting.
- sheared
- Sheared is the more common past form for cutting wool, while shorn is common as an adjective.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: shorn or shone? shorn or sworn?
shorn vs shone
Shone is the past of shine, meaning gave light; shorn is related to cutting.
shorn vs sworn
Sworn is the participle of swear, as in a sworn statement, and only looks like shorn.
Practice
After the scandal, the director was left ___ of all authority.
Choose one answer.
Shorn of means stripped of, and fits with authority. Shown, shone and shot are the wrong forms for this pattern.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “shorn”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.