detour
Americannoun
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a roundabout or circuitous way or course, especially one used temporarily when the main route is closed.
-
an indirect or roundabout procedure, path, etc.
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
-
to cause to make a detour.
-
to make a detour around.
We detoured Birmingham.
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
detoursimple
-
detourssimple
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have detouredperfect
-
has detouredperfect
-
am detouringprogressive
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are detouringprogressive
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is detouringprogressive
-
have been detouringperfect progressive
-
has been detouringperfect progressive
Past
-
detouredsimple
-
had detouredperfect
-
was detouringprogressive
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were detouringprogressive
-
had been detouringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of detour
1730–40 < French détour, Old French destor, derivative of destorner to turn aside, equivalent to des- de- + torner to turn
Explanation
A detour is a longer, less direct way to get where you're going. A traffic accident sometimes means you have to take a detour to get home. When signs direct drivers to take a detour, it's usually because of road work or an emergency that's blocking traffic. You can also detour, or take an unexpected route, while you're running errands, stopping at your favorite bakery for a cookie before you continue on. The French détour comes from the verb destorner, "turn aside."
Vocabulary lists containing detour
Achievement First 5th Grade IA 1 Words
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Barbara Bush (1925 - 2018) Tribute List
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Shiloh
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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:
This detour is not a clever design, but a historical leftover from our fish-like ancestors when the nerve took a straightforward path around the gill arches.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026
The delays were costly in lives, time and money, with the flight detour costing another $20,000 in fuel for the jet that a private donor had lent them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Later, back at NH Collection Suecia, Hemingway’s old Madrid address and my lucky perch for the week, I detour into the restroom.
From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2026
However, Otto Preminger’s “Fallen Angel,” a cultish detour, was a surprise revelation.“That had a deep impact on me,” Tiernan said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
We run down Broadway all the way to 170th Street, then take a detour to J. Hood Wright Park to look at the GW Bridge on the first landing.
From "Watch Us Rise" by Renée Watson and Ellen Hagan
Speaking to Beijing News, a resident who lives about 1km away from the factory said villagers now have to take detours after stones were blasted onto the road.
From BBC ● May 4, 2026
A single definition sends her into a spiral over such terms as “average coral” and “sea pink,” while elsewhere imaginative riffs and historical detours pull the reader well beyond the book’s central thread.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
Under his watch, he wrote, “no detours or even bathroom breaks are allowed.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 2026
Tourists and taxi drivers have been forced to make lengthy detours, but the Colosseum Archaeological Park remained open to visitors.
From Barron's ● Feb. 13, 2026
“We make a lot of detours, but we’re always heading for the same destination.”
From "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho
It detoured a few thousand miles away to Utah.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026
Several main roads in and around downtown, as well as some bus routes, have been closed or detoured.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2025
And yet, Smith’s persona remains veiled — sphinx-like — an ethereal presence whose journey to fame was fueled by her questing spirit and later detoured by tragedy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2025
Finding myself nearby, I’d detoured to have a look — and there was Mr. Khan, at first looking at me curiously and then waving me over to join him.
From New York Times ● Jun. 5, 2024
Traffic was detoured from both ends of the block.
From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli
She glanced at him once with what looked like a hint of contemptuousness and ended without detouring.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
All eastbound trips near the intersection are detouring as delays are expected.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026
Yet, it’s disappointment that Perkins serves up most frequently in “The Monkey,” detouring from every wide-open chance to showcase depth and humanity in favor of juvenile humor and gross-out splatter gags.
From Salon ● Feb. 21, 2025
I figured out that they were detouring traffic off exit ramps prior to the bridge on each side.
From New York Times ● Apr. 1, 2024
After two hours of backbreaking labor, hauling the boats through wet, heavy snow, detouring around piles of broken floe, they were only one mile from Endurance.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
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.
