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” see 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 would also be a lot harder to evade than income taxes.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 18, 2026

Some might try to evade asset taxes by hiding their money in anonymous assets like cash and gold.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 18, 2026

Indeed, many were dressed for it, wearing tennis shoes and baseball caps to evade the sweltering sun.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026

The judge said Longhurst then called his mother who "set about organising a conspiracy" to help her son evade justice.

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026

He pretended to congratulate the three brothers upon their magic, and said that each had earned a prize for having been clever enough to evade him.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

Related Words

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