evade

[ih-veyd]

verb (used with object)

evaded, evading 

1. to escape from by trickery or cleverness.

   to evade one's pursuers.

   Synonyms: dodge, avoid
   Antonyms: confront, face

2. to get around by trickery.

   to evade rules.

3. to avoid doing or fulfilling.

   to evade an obligation.

4. to avoid answering directly.

   to evade a question.

5. to elude; escape.

   The solution evaded him.

verb (used without object)

evaded, evading 

1. to avoid doing or fulfilling something.

2. to elude or get away from someone or something by craft or slyness; escape.

evade

/ ɪˈveɪd /

verb

1. to get away from or avoid (imprisonment, captors, etc); escape

2. to get around, shirk, or dodge (the law, a duty, etc)

3. (also intr) to avoid answering (a question)

Other Word Forms

• evadable adjective
• evadible adjective
• evader noun
• evadingly adverb
• nonevadable adjective
• nonevadible adjective
• nonevading adjective
• nonevadingly adverb
• preevade verb (used with object)
• unevadable adjective
• unevaded adjective
• unevadible adjective
• unevading adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of evade¹

First recorded in 1505–15; from Latin ēvādere “to pass over, go out,” equivalent to ē- “out of, from” + vādere “to go, walk” e- ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of evade¹

C16: from French évader, from Latin ēvādere to go forth, from vādere to go

Synonym Study

See escape.

Example Sentences

“You know who gets Emirati citizenship when they weren’t born in the UAE? People who are trying to evade punishment for crimes,” she wrote on X.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It also agreed to pay nearly $1 billion in France to resolve a longrunning case over its role in helping wealthy clients evade taxes.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

With viewers watching on live television Monday afternoon, he easily evaded a motorcycle officer who tried to stop him.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Unless those buyers can entirely evade the U.S. financial system and the long arm of the Treasury, transactions with the firms would place them in jeopardy.

Read more on Barron's

The low-flying experimental weapon, first announced in 2018, has been hailed as having a potentially unlimited range and the ability to evade missile defences.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• avoid 
• bypass 
• circumvent 
• conceal 
• deceive 
• dodge 
• elude 
• escape 
• fend off www.thesaurus.com
• flee 
• get around 
• hide 
• sidestep