avert
Americanverb (used with object)
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to turn away or aside.
to avert one's eyes.
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to ward off; prevent.
to avert evil;
to avert an accident.
verb
-
to turn away or aside
to avert one's gaze
-
to ward off; prevent from occurring
to avert danger
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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avertsimple
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avertssimple
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have avertedperfect
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has avertedperfect
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am avertingprogressive
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are avertingprogressive
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is avertingprogressive
-
have been avertingperfect progressive
-
has been avertingperfect progressive
Past
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avertedsimple
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had avertedperfect
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was avertingprogressive
-
were avertingprogressive
-
had been avertingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of avert
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Middle French avertir, ultimately derived from Latin āvertere, equivalent to ā- a- 4 + vertere “to turn”
Explanation
To avert is to turn away or to prevent. You might avert your gaze or avert a disaster — either way, you are avoiding something. The verb avert comes from Latin roots that mean "to turn away from." Averting has that sense of deflecting, turning away, or preventing something (usually bad) from happening. You might put salt on an icy sidewalk to avert accidents, or you might avert a toddler's meltdown by supplying a lollipop.
Vocabulary lists containing avert
Of Mice and Men
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Essential Academic Vocabulary for Middle School Students, List 2
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"Of Mice and Men"
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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:
In a post on X, Wangchuk - better known as "Sonam sir" - said he did so "after a long negotiation on various conditions" and also to avert "possible violence in the country".
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
The deals, reached to avert a strike in April, promised double-digit raises to teachers, aides, custodians and other workers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
So little has been done to avert fossil fuel emissions for so long, said Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist with the research nonprofit Berkeley Earth, that there is little remaining choice.
From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2026
The answers may avert any potential bad blood between your mother and her siblings — or could make their blood boil.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026
The trick of emptying, in fact the only way it was possible for her, was to close her eyes, hold her breath and avert her head.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
But for now, there’s a plan that averts shutdown impacts at the IRS.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 2, 2026
The deal is good because it averts an outcome that has become common: the conversion of a great studio into a diminished version of itself after being absorbed by a traditional rival.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 8, 2025
“We have found a good solution that averts a disproportionate burdening of agriculture — you know I always warned against that,” Özdemir said in a brief statement to reporters in Berlin.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 4, 2024
President Biden is scheduled to deliver a rare Oval Office address on Friday evening after congressional passage of legislation that narrowly averts the economic calamity of a first-ever default on the nation’s debt.
From New York Times ● Jun. 2, 2023
She speaks matter-of-factly, but nevertheless she averts her gaze.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
Board member Kelly Gonez also defended the new contracts, which averted an April strike.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
Major conflicts were averted, and so perhaps was another gathering next year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Compound that with domestic crises like a narrowly averted Samsung factory strike and an overall slowdown in non-tech industries, and things have become rather volatile on the peninsula.
From Slate ● Jul. 2, 2026
A sleepless night averted, he went on to win 6-1 6-4.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
Political pressure from President Franklin D. Roosevelt averted all-out warfare in the streets.
From "Fannie Never Flinched" by Mary Cronk Farrell
The boom has also fuelled worker demands over pay packages, with Samsung averting a major strike in May by agreeing a deal on bonuses with its largest union.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
On the NYSE, new 52-week highs outpaced new lows and numbered more than 100 again, so this buy signal is still in place — narrowly averting being stopped out.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 26, 2026
Jack Hendry was superb, averting danger more than once with his pace and reading of the game.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026
Samsung management and its union leaders reached a tentative bonus-pay agreement last week, averting a strike at the world’s largest memory-chip maker, although it is subject to a worker vote.
From Barron's ● May 26, 2026
The rest of us—my aunt, his two young sons, me—stood there, silently, cleaning the plates, averting our eyes.
From "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
