evade

American  

[ih-veyd] / ɪˈveɪd /

verb (used with object)

evaded, evading

1. to escape from by trickery or cleverness.

   to evade one's pursuers.

   Synonyms:

   dodge, avoid

   Antonyms:

   confront, face

2. to get around by trickery.

   to evade rules.

3. to avoid doing or fulfilling.

   to evade an obligation.

4. to avoid answering directly.

   to evade a question.

5. to elude; escape.

   The solution evaded him.

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verb (used without object)

evaded, evading

1. to avoid doing or fulfilling something.

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

evade British  

/ ɪˈveɪd /

verb

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

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

3. (also intr) to avoid answering (a question)

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Related Words

See escape.

Other Word Forms

• evadable adjective
• evader noun
• evadible adjective
• evadingly adverb
• nonevadable adjective
• nonevadible adjective
• nonevading adjective
• nonevadingly adverb
• preevade verb (used with object)
• unevadable adjective
• unevaded adjective
• unevadible adjective
• unevading adjective

Etymology

Origin of evade

First recorded in 1505–15; from Latin ēvādere “to pass over, go out,” equivalent to ē- “out of, from” + vādere “to go, walk” e- ¹

Explanation

When you evade something, you escape it. You could evade a police chase by slipping into a secret alley, or you could evade your mother's questions about the missing cookies by slipping into another topic. Other things people like to evade? Death. Taxes. Creepy ex-boyfriends. The verb evade comes from Latin roots ex ("away) and vadere ("to walk"), meaning literally "to walk away or to escape." Definitely what you want to do with creepy ex-boyfriends.

Example Sentences

It is understood Liebich briefly tried to evade capture.

From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026

In 2027 or early 2028, Japanese forces will bring to Kyushu another new homegrown missile—the Hyper Velocity Gliding Projectile, designed to evade enemy defenses—after deploying one in central Japan this year.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026

Officers on Bali also confirmed they were searching for two associates who arrived with Lyons but managed to evade detection.

From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026

He also accused DOJ lawyers of destroying the office’s good standing with the judiciary and suggested that its incompetence has allowed defendants to evade just penalties for heinous crimes.

From Slate • Mar. 20, 2026

Despite this expenditure, Hoover had decided, after assuming command of the bureau, to dump the case back on state authorities in order to evade responsibility for the failure.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann

Related Words

• avoid
• bypass
• circumvent
• conceal
• deceive
• dodge
• elude
• escape
• fend off
• flee
• get around
• hide
• sidestep