circumvent
Americanverb (used with object)
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to go around or bypass.
to circumvent the lake;
to circumvent the real issues.
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to avoid (defeat, failure, unpleasantness, etc.) by artfulness or deception; avoid by anticipating or outwitting.
He circumvented capture by anticipating their movements.
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to surround or encompass, as by stratagem; entrap.
to circumvent a body of enemy troops.
verb
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to evade or go around
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to outwit
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to encircle (an enemy) so as to intercept or capture
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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circumventernoun
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circumventionnoun
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circumventornoun
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circumventiveadjective
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uncircumventedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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circumventsimple
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circumventssimple
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have circumventedperfect
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has circumventedperfect
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am circumventingprogressive
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are circumventingprogressive
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is circumventingprogressive
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have been circumventingperfect progressive
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has been circumventingperfect progressive
Past
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circumventedsimple
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had circumventedperfect
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was circumventingprogressive
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were circumventingprogressive
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had been circumventingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of circumvent
First recorded in 1545–55; from Latin circumventus (past participle of circumvenīre “to come around, surround, oppress, defraud”), equivalent to circum- circum- + ven(īre) “to come” + -tus past participle suffix
Explanation
To circumvent is to avoid. Someone who trains elephants but somehow gets out of picking up after them has found a way to circumvent the cleaning of the circus tent. Circum in Latin means "around" or "round about," and vent- comes from venire, "to come," but painting a picture from these two parts of the word helps. Picture someone circling around a barrier instead of climbing over it. That's what you do when you circumvent. You find a smart way around rules or barriers, or avoid doing something unpleasant altogether.
Vocabulary lists containing circumvent
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Around and Around: Circum
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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.
See Examples For:
An initial public offering of shares by a China-affiliated offshore entity “is a simple way to circumvent the capital controls,” said Edmund Leow, a senior partner in Singapore at law firm Dentons Rodyk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Two days after his incident with Santana, Caballero was called for a pitch-clock violation when umpires deemed that he was attempting to circumvent the rules by deceiving the pitcher.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
The spokesperson said that through “routine internal monitoring,” the department identified patterns in driver knowledge test results indicating that “some individuals may have attempted to circumvent the testing process using various cheating methods.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
The House was able to force a vote on the measure Thursday after Republican supporters of the bill joined Democrats in signing a discharge petition that essentially allows a majority to circumvent leadership.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
The truth, seldom mentioned but there for anyone to see, is that nature is not so easily molded and that the insects are finding ways to circumvent our chemical attacks on them.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
But Carvajal-Muñoz’s attorneys are testing a legal theory that circumvents these roadblocks by suing officers under state law for violations of his constitutional rights.
From Slate ● Apr. 15, 2026
“From Internet memes to late-night comedians, from cartoons to the plays and poems as old as organized government itself — Political Satire circumvents traditional gatekeepers & helps hold those in power accountable,” he continued.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2025
International social media platforms like X and YouTube are blocked in China, but can still be accessed with software that circumvents the country’s censorship systems.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 26, 2024
As no light excitation is needed, the approach in principle circumvents the problems associated with continuous laser driving.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2023
To clothe the migrants, he circumvents Mexican Customs, which inspects cars and confiscates used clothing coming into the country, in what Padre Leo believes is an attempt to protect Mexican clothing manufacturers.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
Furthermore, its product compliance checks could be "easily circumvented".
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
With swiftly circumvented filters and no discernment, LLMs deliver “expertise” even when they shouldn’t.
From Slate ● Jun. 19, 2026
They also say bans can be easily circumvented.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
While communication between candidate campaigns and independent committees is forbidden, these rules are commonly circumvented using legal but obvious methods.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2026
There were some alarms and emergencies, but the combined intelligence of the humans on Earth and the robot in space circumvented disaster.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
These laws restrict data collection and use to the purposes of gathering the data, and they prevent companies from circumventing these limits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
The arrangement could be considered circumventing the NBA salary cap, a serious violation of league rules.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2026
As we recently reported, some shippers are circumventing the Jones Act by routing gasoline from the Gulf Coast to California through a pit-stop in the Bahamas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026
The hosts kicked just as often, but with more cunning and variety, circumventing England with sideways nudges.
From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2026
And by catching and circumventing threatening behavior early, there was a good chance of diverting those students toward a more positive path.
From "Time Bomb" by Joelle Charbonneau
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.
