avoid

American  

[uh-void] / əˈvɔɪd /

verb (used with object)

• avoids,
  present (3rd person singular)
• avoided,
  past participle,  past
• avoiding
  present participle

1. to keep away from; keep clear of; shun.

   to avoid a person;

   to avoid taxes;

   to avoid danger.

   Synonyms:

   dodge, elude, evade

   Antonyms:

   encounter, face, confront

2. to prevent from happening.

   to avoid falling.

3. Law. to make void or of no effect; invalidate.

4. Obsolete. to empty; eject or expel.

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avoid British  

/ əˈvɔɪd /

verb

1. to keep out of the way of

2. to refrain from doing

3. to prevent from happening

   to avoid damage to machinery

4. law to make (a plea, contract, etc) void; invalidate; quash

5. obsolete to expel

6. obsolete to depart from

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Synonym Usage

Avoid, escape mean to come through a potentially harmful or unpleasant experience, without suffering serious consequences. To avoid is to succeed in keeping away from something dangerous or undesirable: to avoid meeting an enemy. Escape suggests encountering peril but coming through it safely: to escape drowning.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• avoider
  noun
• nonavoidableness
  noun
• avoidable
  adjective
• nonavoidable
  adjective
• unavoiding
  adjective
• avoidably
  adverb
• nonavoidably
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• avoiding
  present
• avoided
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• avoid
  simple
• avoids
  simple
• have avoided
  perfect
• has avoided
  perfect
• am avoiding
  progressive
• are avoiding
  progressive
• is avoiding
  progressive
• have been avoiding
  perfect progressive
• has been avoiding
  perfect progressive

Past

• avoided
  simple
• had avoided
  perfect
• was avoiding
  progressive
• were avoiding
  progressive
• had been avoiding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will avoid
  simple
• will have avoided
  perfect
• will be avoiding
  progressive
• will have been avoiding
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of avoid

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English avoiden, from Anglo-French avoider, equivalent to a- ⁴ ( def. ) + void ( def. )

Explanation

If you avoid drinking coffee right before bed because it tends to keep you awake and makes you jittery, that means that you stay away from coffee at night. The verb avoid means to stop yourself from doing something or to keep something from happening. You might avoid the old lady next door who smells funny and always wants to pinch your cheek, or you could avoid a certain dangerous neighborhood in your city by taking a different route when you're walking home. It's easy to get avoid confused with a similar word, evade, which means "to avoid in a particularly tricky or sneaky way."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

avoid avoids avoided avoiding

Soldiers flew drones during limited windows and for half the maximum flight time to conserve battery and avoid losing them, and without full autonomy or any AI to assist.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

It's understood that the payment of that money by the King is to avoid leaving the Crown Estate out of pocket.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

Streets on the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach were flooded with at least a foot of water during high tides, with police advising residents and motorists to avoid the area.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

A study released in February found it was affecting bird behaviour across the globe, disrupting everything from courtship songs to their ability to find food and avoid predators.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

To avoid raising suspicion, I dig through my suitcase and change my perfectly clean socks.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

While a generation of players build personal brands and chase clicks, the Barcelona and Spain midfielder stays away from social media and avoids the spotlight, talking about tactics the way other players talk about cars.

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

But the visit showed a surprising alignment of visions between the U.S. and Chinese presidents, embracing fierce competition that avoids miscalculation and conflict.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

Managing her wealth through ETFs and deep diversification, she avoids speculative assets like cryptocurrencies.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026

Although his message of hope being central to success is certainly valid, Mr. Guimarães avoids overly saccharine conclusions about his experience.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

She avoids looking at me and takes our plates and goes to the kitchen.

From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon

The parasitic outbreak touched every part of the produce industry as many consumers avoided fresh produce in grocery stores and salad-heavy restaurant chains.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

The garbage truck driver took evasive action and avoided a collision.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

The Coalition has mostly avoided cuts so far, although one of E-Day's narrative directors announced last month he had been let go.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

Golfer Tom Kim also avoided military service by winning gold at the Asian Games.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

The doom of her words dragged me down, anchored me in misery at the knowledge that I could have avoided what was coming.

From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall

He won election with 51% of the vote in March, avoiding a runoff against other candidates in the second round.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele said the measures were aimed at easing pressure on households and businesses while avoiding a return to fuel subsidies.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

This allows users to avoiding sending sensitive information to the cloud.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026

The investigators say Vorcaro asked the person with whom he was communicating for help avoiding arrest.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

“Ah, yeah. She was cool,” Arlo says, avoiding eye contact.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

Related Words

• avert
• bypass
• dodge
• escape
• evade
• fend off
• shun
• sidestep