evasion

[ ih-vey-zhuhn ]

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: prevarication, quibbling, equivocation

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.

evasion

/ 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

Other Words From

• e·vasion·al adjective
• none·vasion noun
• pree·vasion noun
• ree·vasion noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of evasion¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of evasion¹

C15: from Late Latin ēvāsiō, from Latin ēvādere to go forth; see evade

Example Sentences

They basically can call the police to deal with specific issues, but similar to fare evasion issues, our experience has been that that elevates to other issues very quickly.

From Washington Post

The evasion is a response to the army of bots that investors routinely deploy to catch any whiff of implicit market intelligence.

From Quartz

In 2018, Fan Bingbing, China’s most famous movie star, reemerged after a months-long disappearance to confess to tax evasion and pay a hefty fine.

From Washington Post

Board members have called for a significant change in direction to the agency’s enforcement approach after years of increased crack downs on quality of life crimes, including fare evasion.

From Voice of San Diego

In a Voice of San Diego series, Lisa Halverstadt illuminated the degree to which aggressive, draconian enforcement of transit fare evasion by San Diego’s Metropolitan Transit System has impacted the lives of the people who rely on public transit.

From Voice of San Diego

Tax evasion carries a maximum penalty of five years, and thus it seems likely that Grimm would be covered by the provision.

From The Daily Beast

Like any good suspense novelist, Shields is a master of evasion and sleight-of-hand.

From The Daily Beast

Later that year, he was also tried for tax evasion, and was ultimately acquitted in both cases.

From The Daily Beast

Tax evasion by our largest corporations remain a big problem.

From The Daily Beast

The Chinese government detained Ai, an outspoken critic, for 81 days in 2011 on charges of tax evasion.

From The Daily Beast

Perrott, who wished to hunt out rather than pardon him, watched the ports so carefully as to frustrate many attempts at evasion.

From Project Gutenberg

He felt sure this was a plausible evasion, and that she really was afraid to apply his test to his rival's love.

From Project Gutenberg

To some men, Ingas evasion would have aroused eager senses of pursuit and possession.

From Project Gutenberg

As to the second article of the proclamation, the order of expulsion which it contained admitted of no evasion either.

From Project Gutenberg

If the defendant attempt evasion or flight, the plaintiff shall take him by force.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• dodging