avoid

American  

[uh-void] / əˈvɔɪd /

verb (used with object)

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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Related Words

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

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

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

At a sentencing hearing for the boys on Thursday, Judge Nicholas Rowland said he wanted to "avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily".

From BBC • May 24, 2026

Make sure to stir occasionally to avoid burning the tofu pieces.

From Salon • May 24, 2026

Firefighters said they’re hopeful they can still avoid an explosion.

From Los Angeles Times • May 23, 2026

Is my thinking correct that distributing all income annually to my children would avoid the higher trust tax rates?

From MarketWatch • May 23, 2026

And because of that, he says it’s better to avoid them altogether.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

Related Words

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