evasion
Americannoun
-
an act or instance of escaping, avoiding, or shirking something.
evasion of one's duty.
- Synonyms:
- avoidance
-
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
-
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.
-
physical or mental escape.
-
an act or instance of violating the tax laws by failing or refusing to pay all or part of one's taxes.
noun
-
the act of evading or escaping, esp from a distasteful duty, responsibility, etc, by trickery, cunning, or illegal means
tax evasion
-
trickery, cunning, or deception used to dodge a question, duty, etc; means of evading
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of evasion
1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin ēvāsiōn- (stem of ēvāsiō ), equivalent to ēvās ( us ) (past participle of ēvādere to go out; see evade) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
Evasion is the act of physically escaping from something, like your evasion of your ex-girlfriend at the prom — you kept dancing. Now that's fancy footwork. Evasion also means "dodging something you are supposed to do" like your evasion of your chores by pretending to be sick. Evasion can also mean "the deliberate act of failing to pay money," like tax evasion, not paying your taxes. Though evasion comes from the Latin word evadere, "to escape," if you owe the government money, you'll surely be caught eventually.
Vocabulary lists containing evasion
The Great Gatsby
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The Hunger Games
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Al Capone Does My Shirts
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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.
Evasion tactics have grown sophisticated and the so-called shadow fleet of vessels that transports sanctioned oil has quadrupled in size over the past three years.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 25, 2025
Evasion of military service by the rich, powerful and connected has long strained South Korea’s social fiber.
From Washington Times • Dec. 13, 2023
The Shared Ban Info program is an extension of the Ban Evasion Detection Tool that rolled out in November, which uses machine learning to catch people skirting bans.
From The Verge • Jul. 21, 2022
Evasion costs the country some $17.6 billion annually, he said.
From Reuters • Jul. 14, 2022
Evasion is for the most part a sign of defeat, not of victory.
From With God in the World A Series of Papers by Brent, Charles H.
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.
