evasion

[ih-vey-zhuhn]

noun

1. an act or instance of escaping, avoiding, or shirking something.

   evasion of one's duty.

   Synonyms: avoidance

2. the avoiding of an argument, accusation, question, or the like, as by a subterfuge.

   The old political boss was notorious for his practice of evasion.

   Synonyms: quibbling, equivocation, prevarication

3. a means of evading; subterfuge; an excuse or trick to avoid or get around something.

   Her polite agreement was an evasion concealing what she really felt.

4. physical or mental escape.

5. an act or instance of violating the tax laws by failing or refusing to pay all or part of one's taxes.

evasion

/ ɪˈveɪʒən /

noun

1. the act of evading or escaping, esp from a distasteful duty, responsibility, etc, by trickery, cunning, or illegal means

   tax evasion

2. trickery, cunning, or deception used to dodge a question, duty, etc; means of evading

Other Word Forms

• evasional adjective
• nonevasion noun
• preevasion noun
• reevasion noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of evasion¹

1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin ēvāsiōn- (stem of ēvāsiō ), equivalent to ēvās ( us ) (past participle of ēvādere to go out; evade ) + -iōn- -ion

Word History and Origins

Origin of evasion¹

C15: from Late Latin ēvāsiō, from Latin ēvādere to go forth; see _evade

Example Sentences

An SWR spokesperson said: "Our revenue protection team is focused on effectively deterring fare evasion and bringing down the rate of ticketless travel."

Read more on BBC

Federal officials say they have found no evidence of widespread undervaluing of imported appliances after Whirlpool WHR -1.19%decrease; red down pointing triangle last month accused its rivals of possible tariff evasion.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

A federal grand jury indicted Ver in April 2024 for mail fraud, two counts of tax evasion and three counts of subscription to a false tax return.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The attorney general’s office called Sable’s evasion of regulatory oversight “egregious,” warranting “substantial penalties.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

But his evasions are getting harder to maintain.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• dodging www.thesaurus.com