evade

[ ih-veyd ]

/ ɪˈveɪd /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR evade ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), e·vad·ed, e·vad·ing.

to escape from by trickery or cleverness: to evade one's pursuers.

to get around by trickery: to evade rules.

to avoid doing or fulfilling: to evade an obligation.

to avoid answering directly: to evade a question.

to elude; escape: The solution evaded him.

verb (used without object), e·vad·ed, e·vad·ing.

to avoid doing or fulfilling something.

to elude or get away from someone or something by craft or slyness; escape.

Nearby words

Origin of evade

1505–15; < Latin ēvādere to pass over, go out, equivalent to ē- e-¹ + vādere to go, walk

Related forms

e·vad·a·ble, e·vad·i·ble, adjectivee·vad·er, noune·vad·ing·ly, adverbnon·e·vad·a·ble, adjective

non·e·vad·i·ble, adjectivenon·e·vad·ing, adjectivenon·e·vad·ing·ly, adverbpre·e·vade, verb (used with object), pre·e·vad·ed, pre·e·vad·ing.un·e·vad·a·ble, adjectiveun·e·vad·ed, adjectiveun·e·vad·i·ble, adjectiveun·e·vad·ing, adjective

Can be confusedavoid evade

Synonym study

1. See escape.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for evade

Our mockery of celebworld helps us evade the soul-crushing decadence concealed within.
Pyongyang Shuffle: Hollywood In Dead Panic Over Sony Hack|James Poulos|December 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
One gets the sense that they are wearing a mask to confuse their readers, and even to evade them.
Sor Juana: Mexico’s Most Erotic Poet and Its Most Dangerous Nun|Katie Baker|November 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They have blocked vehicle access, but pedestrians have managed to evade them.
Whatever You Do Someone Will Die. A Short Story About Impossible Choices in Iraq|Nathan Bradley Bethea|August 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Powers had no chance to evade it, and bailed out as his U-2 spun down to earth.
Russia’s Missiles Stung the World Long Before MH17|Clive Irving|July 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST

He managed to evade capture by American and Iraqi forces and has been in hiding pretty much since then.
Someone Is Spilling ISIS’s Secrets on Twitter|Jacob Siegel|June 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The old man's amusing attempts to evade their vigilance are frustrated, whereupon he calls for assistance.
Authors of Greece|T. W. Lumb
It is of no use for us to think to evade this law; neither is it a law wholly of retribution.
Hetty's Strange History|Anonymous
He frequently pursues and attacks hunters; and no animal, whose swiftness or art is not superior to his own, can evade him.
Early Western Travels 1748-1846, Volume XVI|Various
Some parents have not courage to face the case themselves, and evade the painful thought from day to day.
Household Education|Harriet Martineau
The coyote doubled to evade the snapping jaws of the foremost dog, and as he turned another struck him.
The Yellow Horde|Hal G. Evarts

British Dictionary definitions for evade

evade

/ (ɪˈveɪd) /

verb (mainly tr)

to get away from or avoid (imprisonment, captors, etc); escape

to get around, shirk, or dodge (the law, a duty, etc)

(also intr) to avoid answering (a question)

Derived Formsevadable, adjectiveevader, nounevadingly, adverb

Word Origin for evade

C16: from French évader, from Latin ēvādere to go forth, from vādere to go

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 evade

evade

1510s, "escape," from Middle French evader, from Latin evadere "to escape, get away," from ex- "away" (see ex-) + vadere "to go, walk" (see vamoose). Related: Evaded; evading. Special sense of "escape by trickery" is from 1530s.