avoid

American  

[uh-void] / əˈvɔɪd /

verb (used with object)

• avoids,
  present (3rd person singular)
• avoided,
  past participle,  past
• avoiding
  present participle

1. to keep away from; keep clear of; shun.

   to avoid a person;

   to avoid taxes;

   to avoid danger.

   Synonyms:

   dodge, elude, evade

   Antonyms:

   encounter, face, confront

2. to prevent from happening.

   to avoid falling.

3. Law. to make void or of no effect; invalidate.

4. Obsolete. to empty; eject or expel.

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avoid British  

/ əˈvɔɪd /

verb

1. to keep out of the way of

2. to refrain from doing

3. to prevent from happening

   to avoid damage to machinery

4. law to make (a plea, contract, etc) void; invalidate; quash

5. obsolete to expel

6. obsolete to depart from

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Synonym Usage

Avoid, escape mean to come through a potentially harmful or unpleasant experience, without suffering serious consequences. To avoid is to succeed in keeping away from something dangerous or undesirable: to avoid meeting an enemy. Escape suggests encountering peril but coming through it safely: to escape drowning.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• avoider
  noun
• nonavoidableness
  noun
• avoidable
  adjective
• nonavoidable
  adjective
• unavoiding
  adjective
• avoidably
  adverb
• nonavoidably
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• avoiding
  present
• avoided
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• avoid
  simple
• avoids
  simple
• have avoided
  perfect
• has avoided
  perfect
• am avoiding
  progressive
• are avoiding
  progressive
• is avoiding
  progressive
• have been avoiding
  perfect progressive
• has been avoiding
  perfect progressive

Past

• avoided
  simple
• had avoided
  perfect
• was avoiding
  progressive
• were avoiding
  progressive
• had been avoiding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will avoid
  simple
• will have avoided
  perfect
• will be avoiding
  progressive
• will have been avoiding
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of avoid

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English avoiden, from Anglo-French avoider, equivalent to a- ⁴ ( def. ) + void ( def. )

Explanation

If you avoid drinking coffee right before bed because it tends to keep you awake and makes you jittery, that means that you stay away from coffee at night. The verb avoid means to stop yourself from doing something or to keep something from happening. You might avoid the old lady next door who smells funny and always wants to pinch your cheek, or you could avoid a certain dangerous neighborhood in your city by taking a different route when you're walking home. It's easy to get avoid confused with a similar word, evade, which means "to avoid in a particularly tricky or sneaky way."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

avoid avoids avoided avoiding

"Back in my day, I could just put down the paper and not read it. Now it seems like it's harder for these youngsters to avoid."

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

To avoid an unfortunate fate, remember the saying “Turn around, don’t drown,” Redd said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

Though HOAs are heavily criticized online, home buyers generally don’t deliberately seek to avoid homes that are part of one, said Garrett, the Louisville real-estate broker.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026

For Schraf-Fletcher, the chance to avoid another major knee operation was especially appealing.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026

“You know I’d do almost anything to avoid doing my actual work?”

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

It avoids syncopation, letting the melodic line and its harmonies command full attention.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

Cruise avoids the personal by making his work inextricable from his life, thereby asking the reader to perform a clever thought exercise: What if Tom Cruise were telling the truth?

From Salon ● Sep. 17, 2026

But she deliberately avoids strict plans because, she says, "there are too many variables at play".

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

More than a year later, she still avoids any route that takes her by the intersection where Carlos died.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026

He avoids her at every turn, and is difficult to spot in the crowd since he is dressed identically to the rest of the staff.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

Ronika’s resentment toward Blair, who has avoided condemning Haywood in public, seethes monotonously until her own backstory is finally unearthed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026

Chinese car companies have avoided expanding to the U.S. by and large because of the software ban and tariffs in excess of 100% on imported EVs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

Klinge avoided a whitewash and then grew in confidence, turning what once looked like a thrashing into a one-leg deficit.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

One noted that her colleagues avoided Dans at a recent conference.

From Salon ● Sep. 16, 2026

At the dinner table, I threw dark looks at Ba over the greens, bitter melon, and pork Ma pushed at me, but he avoided my gaze and kept his eyes moodily on his plate.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

Firestein said he expects Xi will be looking for Trump to either commit to extending the delay of the arms sale or somehow avoiding the sale altogether.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

General tips for driving in the rain include slowing down, avoiding distractions and leaving extra room when stopping.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

"And protection must go beyond avoiding deforestation. Avoiding forest disturbances from wildfires or logging delivered the greatest benefits for forest biodiversity."

From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026

Utilities and materials companies were the most prone to avoiding the topic.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026

A couple times I’ve wanted to tell Dylan about what we found, but it seems like he’s avoiding me.

From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston

Related Words

• avert
• bypass
• dodge
• escape
• evade
• fend off
• shun
• sidestep