Synonyms

evade

American

[ih-veyd] / ɪˈveɪd /

verb (used with object)

to escape from by trickery or cleverness.

to evade one's pursuers.

Synonyms:

dodge, avoid

Antonyms:

confront, face
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)

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

evade British

/ ɪˈveɪd /

verb

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)

"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

Synonym Usage

See escape.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

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.

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Vocabulary lists containing evade

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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:

evade evades evaded evading

The captain said the drone appeared to be "small" because it managed to evade detection by "our air defence systems, and the port authority's own surveillance cameras didn't catch anything."

From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026

Iran has long said the Kheibar Shekan can maneuver in the final stage of its flight to evade air defenses, he added.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

“Ronald Fischer will now return to Rhode Island to face the consequences he sought to evade for more than 20 years.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

Both pathogens can develop resistance and become "superbugs" that evade frontline drugs such as vancomycin.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026

For the moment, she seemed genuinely keen to evade the Ravens, guiding him along little twisting deer-paths that clung to the best cover.

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver

Chip falls in with a troupe of street performers, evades the police, juggles along the Seine and eventually wanders into a smoky bar, where Penelope is strumming her guitar.

From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026

But how does one set out to write a biography about the creation of an author who not only can’t be reached, but actively evades the spotlight?

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2026

“It seems sometimes progress evades us,” Walker says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 25, 2025

This "dark matter" is a mysterious entity that evades all forms of direct observation yet makes its presence felt through its invisible pull on visible objects.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 6, 2024

“Rats have no thumbs and therefore cannot do many things that we can. They cannot make tools or weapons. They are masters of destruction, but creation evades them,” said Vikus.

From "Gregor the Overlander" by Suzanne Collins

He’d evaded immigration agents at least three times before he was detained in late June.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026

The driver successfully and momentarily evaded officers, who found his abandoned motorcycle, valued at $5,000, in a nearby alley, according to Buttitta.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

Cayetano said he gave Dela Rosa a ride to the Senate on Monday, where the former police chief narrowly evaded arrest by government agents who chased him up the stairs.

From Barron's ● May 14, 2026

The 28-year-old Iraqi Kurd has evaded arrest for several years by operating under the alias "Kardo Ranya".

From BBC ● May 12, 2026

The descendants of maroons who evaded the British still live in Jamaica to this day.

From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson

Incidents of such loss of control continue to be catnip for AI ethicists, who contend that companies are evading moral responsibilities and accountability by describing it as their AI making its own choices.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

Almásy shelters Katharine in a cave and goes off to get help, eventually evading arrest and stealing an airplane to rescue her.

From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026

An "extremely intelligent" bear that injured four people in northern Japan remains at large as of Friday, after apparently unlatching a window while evading capture and turning on a water tap, officials said.

From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026

Officials said the drone had flown slow and low to the ground, evading U.S. air defenses.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026

What happened was this: Archie had cut a class and glided through the corridor, evading the brothers.

From "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023