avert
Americanverb (used with object)
-
averts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
averted,
past participle, past
-
averting
present participle
-
to turn away or aside.
to avert one's eyes.
-
to ward off; prevent.
to avert evil;
to avert an accident.
verb
-
to turn away or aside
to avert one's gaze
-
to ward off; prevent from occurring
to avert danger
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
avertsimple
-
avertssimple
-
have avertedperfect
-
has avertedperfect
-
am avertingprogressive
-
are avertingprogressive
-
is avertingprogressive
-
have been avertingperfect progressive
-
has been avertingperfect progressive
Past
-
avertedsimple
-
had avertedperfect
-
was avertingprogressive
-
were avertingprogressive
-
had been avertingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of avert
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Middle French avertir, ultimately derived from Latin āvertere, equivalent to ā- a- 4 + vertere “to turn”
Explanation
To avert is to turn away or to prevent. You might avert your gaze or avert a disaster — either way, you are avoiding something. The verb avert comes from Latin roots that mean "to turn away from." Averting has that sense of deflecting, turning away, or preventing something (usually bad) from happening. You might put salt on an icy sidewalk to avert accidents, or you might avert a toddler's meltdown by supplying a lollipop.
Vocabulary lists containing avert
Of Mice and Men
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!
Essential Academic Vocabulary for Middle School Students, List 2
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!
"Of Mice and Men"
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:
Perhaps the U.S. and Canada will come to some agreement in the coming days and avert more economic upheaval.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026
Romania had been trying to avert a complete shutdown of the plant's two 700MW reactors.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
But it is Philippa Northeast as Sybylla who is the shiny thing from which we cannot avert our eyes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
And that means governments will continue to be under pressure to implement early release schemes to avert a capacity crisis.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
From some things, it's easier to avert your eyes.
From "How It Went Down" by Kekla Magoon
But for now, there’s a plan that averts shutdown impacts at the IRS.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 2, 2026
The deal is good because it averts an outcome that has become common: the conversion of a great studio into a diminished version of itself after being absorbed by a traditional rival.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 8, 2025
The agreement with Indivior, based in North Chesterfield, Virginia, averts a trial that was scheduled to start later this year.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 2, 2023
President Biden is scheduled to deliver a rare Oval Office address on Friday evening after congressional passage of legislation that narrowly averts the economic calamity of a first-ever default on the nation’s debt.
From New York Times ● Jun. 2, 2023
Mrs. Koster averts her eyes, staring down at the new wedding band on her finger, and I have a new, ugly suspicion.
From "Girl in the Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse
Had she done so a tragedy may have been averted.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Compound that with domestic crises like a narrowly averted Samsung factory strike and an overall slowdown in non-tech industries, and things have become rather volatile on the peninsula.
From Slate ● Jul. 2, 2026
A sleepless night averted, he went on to win 6-1 6-4.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
None of the sovereign defaults over the past decade—among them Argentina, Ecuador, Ghana, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela—would have been averted by a debt pause.
From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026
I was aware of the eyes upon me, the eyes of those for whom I wept turned impassively upon me; I averted my own eyes and wiped away the late evidence of my weakness.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
On the NYSE, new 52-week highs outpaced new lows and numbered more than 100 again, so this buy signal is still in place — narrowly averting being stopped out.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 26, 2026
Jack Hendry was superb, averting danger more than once with his pace and reading of the game.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026
After memory chip giant Samsung Electronics reached a deal with its biggest union over bonuses, averting a major strike, AFP looks at what the dispute might mean for the industry.
From Barron's ● May 28, 2026
Samsung Electronics’ 005930 7.53%increase; green up pointing triangle unionized workers have approved a tentative bonus-pay deal reached last week with the company, averting a strike at the world’s largest memory-chip maker.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026
You can see faint stars and other objects by averting your vision slightly.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
