detour
Americannoun
-
detours
plural
-
a roundabout or circuitous way or course, especially one used temporarily when the main route is closed.
-
an indirect or roundabout procedure, path, etc.
verb (used without object)
-
detours,
present (3rd person singular)
-
detoured,
past participle, past
-
detouring
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
detours,
present (3rd person singular)
-
detoured,
past participle, past
-
detouring
present participle
-
to cause to make a detour.
-
to make a detour around.
We detoured Birmingham.
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
detoursimple
-
detourssimple
-
have detouredperfect
-
has detouredperfect
-
am detouringprogressive
-
are detouringprogressive
-
is detouringprogressive
-
have been detouringperfect progressive
-
has been detouringperfect progressive
Past
-
detouredsimple
-
had detouredperfect
-
was detouringprogressive
-
were detouringprogressive
-
had been detouringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of detour
1730–40 < French détour, Old French destor, derivative of destorner to turn aside, equivalent to des- de- + torner to turn
Explanation
A detour is a longer, less direct way to get where you're going. A traffic accident sometimes means you have to take a detour to get home. When signs direct drivers to take a detour, it's usually because of road work or an emergency that's blocking traffic. You can also detour, or take an unexpected route, while you're running errands, stopping at your favorite bakery for a cookie before you continue on. The French détour comes from the verb destorner, "turn aside."
Vocabulary lists containing detour
Achievement First 5th Grade IA 1 Words
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Barbara Bush (1925 - 2018) Tribute List
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Shiloh
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
That’s 28 miles as the crow flies, but our route, with a detour for lunch in Cuyama, swelled the journey to more than 100 miles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
New Zealander Woods and her team battled two heatwaves, storms, a swarm of horseflies, and wildfires that resulted in a detour that added five kilometres and 200m of treacherous climbing to her route.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
The researchers describe vertebrate eyes as the product of an unusual evolutionary detour.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
The detour to Asia can add a delay of some 20-30 days, Bronze said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Yesterday, on the way home from school, their bus had to take a fifteen-minute detour because of a busted sewer pipe.
From "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell
Flyovers speed traffic while forcing pedestrians into hazardous detours below.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
He next found himself taking detours to cover new streets in Northeast Los Angeles as he’d ride to and from Koreatown Run Club meet-ups at Los Angeles Community College.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
One of the night’s longest detours centered on Trump’s planned White House ballroom.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
Yet as the story progresses, the unnamed author’s detours and digressions pile up, and Bernadette’s actual adventures begin to feel like an afterthought.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
He was apt to cross streams, climb fences, make any number of unexpected detours.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
He then detoured to law school at Georgetown and briefly became a First Amendment lawyer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 3, 2026
Several main roads in and around downtown, as well as some bus routes, have been closed or detoured.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2025
When she was about 16, she detoured into what she called her “boy era,” pulling back from rigorous year-round training to date and go to football games like other students.
From New York Times ● Mar. 31, 2024
Southbound traffic on the 110 will be detoured to exit at the 10 Freeway interchange and reenter the 110 at either Exposition Boulevard or Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 2024
Now there are more cars on the road around us, and all traffic is detoured right.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
She glanced at him once with what looked like a hint of contemptuousness and ended without detouring.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
All eastbound trips near the intersection are detouring as delays are expected.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026
Yet, it’s disappointment that Perkins serves up most frequently in “The Monkey,” detouring from every wide-open chance to showcase depth and humanity in favor of juvenile humor and gross-out splatter gags.
From Salon ● Feb. 21, 2025
I figured out that they were detouring traffic off exit ramps prior to the bridge on each side.
From New York Times ● Apr. 1, 2024
The bus stopped in front of a police officer, who was detouring traffic.
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
