evade

[ ih-veyd ]

verb (used with object)

, e·vad·ed, e·vad·ing.

1. to escape from by trickery or cleverness:

   to evade one's pursuers.

   Synonyms: dodge, avoid

   Antonyms: confront, face

2. to get around by trickery:

   to evade rules.

3. to avoid doing or fulfilling:

   to evade an obligation.

4. to avoid answering directly:

   to evade a question.

5. to elude; escape:

   The solution evaded him.

verb (used without object)

, e·vad·ed, e·vad·ing.

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

evade

/ ɪˈveɪd /

verb

1. to get away from or avoid (imprisonment, captors, etc); escape
2. to get around, shirk, or dodge (the law, a duty, etc)
3. also intr to avoid answering (a question)

Derived Forms

• eˈvadable, adjective
• eˈvadingly, adverb
• eˈvader, noun

Other Words From

• e·vada·ble e·vadi·ble adjective
• e·vader noun
• e·vading·ly adverb
• none·vada·ble adjective
• none·vadi·ble adjective
• none·vading adjective
• none·vading·ly adverb
• pree·vade verb (used with object) preevaded preevading
• une·vada·ble adjective
• une·vaded adjective
• une·vadi·ble adjective
• une·vading adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of evade¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of evade¹

C16: from French évader, from Latin ēvādere to go forth, from vādere to go

Synonym Study

See escape.

Example Sentences

He said the constant opening and closing of companies by the same owners signaled that they were evading taxes.

From New York Times

On-rushing defenders are more easily evaded and, moving at pace, the holes they leave behind are hard to plug.

From BBC

The edge-of-your-seat series weaves together a cat-and-mouse chase across Europe, with Bianca searching for an assassin — the Jackal — who is leaving a trail of bodies in his wake as he continually evades authorities.

From Los Angeles Times

Ultimately, to point fingers at others is to evade self-examination about how we got here as a nation.

From Salon

It was 14 against 13 when Radadra was initially shown a yellow card, but Fiji responded despite their numerical disadvantage with a fine individual converted try from Muntz as he evaded five Wales defenders.

From BBC

Related Words

• avoid
• bypass
• circumvent
• conceal
• deceive
• dodge
• elude
• escape
• fend off
• flee
• get around
• hide
• sidestep