avoidance

[uh-void-ns]

See more synonyms for avoidance on Thesaurus.com

noun

the act of avoiding or keeping away from: the avoidance of scandal; the avoidance of one's neighbors.
Law. a making void; annulment.

Origin of avoidance

1350–1400; Middle English < Anglo-French; see avoid, -ance

Related formsnon·a·void·ance, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for avoidance

Contemporary Examples

The real advisers to the Ready for Hillary organization are almost comically precise in their avoidance of the term “campaign.”
The Coronation That Wants to Be a Movement: Scenes From Hillary’s Iowa Steak Fry
Ana Marie Cox
September 15, 2014
Existential crisis in this reading is not an apprehension of reality, but a symptom of its avoidance.
How to Write About the Dirty War
Phil Klay
July 10, 2013
But those who worked with Charles in advertising say that his avoidance of contact was not shyness, but a deliberate campaign.
Charles Saatchi: From Saatchi & Saatchi to Allegedly Choking Nigella Lawson
Peter Jukes
June 18, 2013
According to experts, procrastinators engage in “avoidance motivation.”
7 Tax Personality Types
Farnoosh Torabi
April 15, 2011
There are also promising signs from my own research that some forms of “avoidance” behavior are on the wane.
The Human Fallout for Japan
Peter Wynn Kirby
March 26, 2011

Historical Examples

And to the class of opposites belong assent and dissent, desire and avoidance.
The Republic
Plato
Pleasure is an object of desire, pain of avoidance; and the absence of pain is to be preferred to pain, but not to pleasure.
Laws
Plato
There was a pause, and whilst his eyes were upon hers, hers were upon the ground in avoidance of his glance.
Love-at-Arms
Raphael Sabatini
Mackenzie determined there was not going to be any avoidance on his part.
The Flockmaster of Poison Creek
George W. Ogden
For the purpose of all their delays had been compromise, and their hope was the avoidance of bloodshed.
The Siege of Boston
Allen French

British Dictionary definitions for avoidance

avoidance

noun

the act of keeping away from or preventing from happening
law
1. the act of annulling or making void
2. the countering of an opponent's plea with fresh evidence
ecclesiastical law the state of a benefice having no incumbent

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for avoidance

n.

late 14c., "action of emptying," from avoid + -ance. Sense of "action of dodging or shunning" is recorded from early 15c.; it also meant "action of making legally invalid," 1620s; "becoming vacant" (of an office, etc.), mid-15c.

avoidance

Origin of .css-1fxfie5{font-size:22px;}@media (max-width:768px){.css-1fxfie5{font-size:18px;margin:0 10px 10px 0;word-break:break-all;word-wrap:break-word;-webkit-hyphens:auto;-moz-hyphens:auto;-ms-hyphens:auto;hyphens:auto;line-height:22px;}}avoidance

Examples from the Web for avoidance

Contemporary Examples

The real advisers to the Ready for Hillary organization are almost comically precise in their avoidance of the term “campaign.”

Existential crisis in this reading is not an apprehension of reality, but a symptom of its avoidance.

But those who worked with Charles in advertising say that his avoidance of contact was not shyness, but a deliberate campaign.

According to experts, procrastinators engage in “avoidance motivation.”

There are also promising signs from my own research that some forms of “avoidance” behavior are on the wane.

Historical Examples

And to the class of opposites belong assent and dissent, desire and avoidance.

Pleasure is an object of desire, pain of avoidance; and the absence of pain is to be preferred to pain, but not to pleasure.

There was a pause, and whilst his eyes were upon hers, hers were upon the ground in avoidance of his glance.

Mackenzie determined there was not going to be any avoidance on his part.

For the purpose of all their delays had been compromise, and their hope was the avoidance of bloodshed.

avoidance

Word Origin and History for avoidance

n.

Origin of avoidance