evasion

American  

[ih-vey-zhuhn] / ɪˈveɪ ʒən /

noun

1. an act or instance of escaping, avoiding, or shirking something.

   evasion of one's duty.

   Synonyms:

   avoidance

2. the avoiding of an argument, accusation, question, or the like, as by a subterfuge.

   The old political boss was notorious for his practice of evasion.

   Synonyms:

   quibbling, equivocation, prevarication

3. a means of evading; subterfuge; an excuse or trick to avoid or get around something.

   Her polite agreement was an evasion concealing what she really felt.

4. physical or mental escape.

5. an act or instance of violating the tax laws by failing or refusing to pay all or part of one's taxes.

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evasion British  

/ ɪˈveɪʒən /

noun

1. the act of evading or escaping, esp from a distasteful duty, responsibility, etc, by trickery, cunning, or illegal means

   tax evasion

2. trickery, cunning, or deception used to dodge a question, duty, etc; means of evading

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Other Word Forms

• evasional adjective
• nonevasion noun
• preevasion noun
• reevasion noun

Etymology

Origin of evasion

1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin ēvāsiōn- (stem of ēvāsiō ), equivalent to ēvās ( us ) (past participle of ēvādere to go out; evade ) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

“What we’ve seen instead is a consistent pattern of evasion, refusal to take accountability, and outright lies to protect your image.”

From Salon

A spokesperson for Govia Thameslink Railway said fare evasion increased costs for passengers and "diverted public funding away from improving services for passengers".

From BBC

Morrison seems to have taken particular inspiration from the omissions and evasions of Faulkner’s fragmentary storytelling.

From The Wall Street Journal

"South Yorkshire Police must see that this is another disgraceful example of the evasion and obfuscation of the last four decades," she said.

From BBC

Congress passed a law in December to raise the thresholds for tax evasion, allowing Argentines to use as much as $70,000 in some cases without declaring the origin of the cash.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• dodging