evade
Americanverb (used with object)
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to escape from by trickery or cleverness.
to evade one's pursuers.
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to get around by trickery.
to evade rules.
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to avoid doing or fulfilling.
to evade an obligation.
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to avoid answering directly.
to evade a question.
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The solution evaded him.
verb (used without object)
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to avoid doing or fulfilling something.
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to elude or get away from someone or something by craft or slyness; escape.
verb
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to get away from or avoid (imprisonment, captors, etc); escape
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to get around, shirk, or dodge (the law, a duty, etc)
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(also intr) to avoid answering (a question)
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” e- 1
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.
He also accused DOJ lawyers of destroying the office’s good standing with the judiciary and suggested that its incompetence has allowed defendants to evade just penalties for heinous crimes.
From Slate • Mar. 20, 2026
CHP officials regularly conduct enforcement operations targeting improper use of carpool lanes, including drivers attempting to evade rules by using mannequins or other objects to mimic passengers.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 17, 2026
Being able to work across different platforms and use technical tricks to evade the restrictions has made it hard for less tech-savvy relatives to stay in touch.
From BBC • Mar. 15, 2026
That hasn’t stopped them from proliferating as the primary means to evade censorship.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 14, 2026
To evade his criticism, I wanted to side with him.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
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.
