AVOID Synonyms: 131 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How does the verb 'avoid' contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of avoid are elude , escape , eschew , evade , and shun . While all these words mean "to get away or keep away from something," avoid stresses forethought and caution in keeping clear of danger or difficulty. // try to avoid past errors

Q: When might 'elude' be a better fit than 'avoid'?

While the synonyms elude and avoid are close in meaning, elude implies a slippery or baffling quality in the person or thing that escapes. // what she sees in him eludes me

Q: When is it sensible to use 'escape' instead of 'avoid'?

The words escape and avoid are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, escape stresses the fact of getting away or being passed by not necessarily through effort or by conscious intent. // nothing escapes her sharp eyes

Q: In what contexts can 'eschew' take the place of 'avoid'?

The words eschew and avoid can be used in similar contexts, but eschew implies an avoiding or abstaining from as unwise or distasteful. // a playwright who eschews melodrama

Q: When can 'evade' be used instead of 'avoid'?

In some situations, the words evade and avoid are roughly equivalent. However, evade implies adroitness, ingenuity, or lack of scruple in escaping or avoiding. // evaded the question by changing the subject

Q: Where would 'shun' be a reasonable alternative to 'avoid'?

While in some cases nearly identical to avoid , shun often implies an avoiding as a matter of habitual practice or policy and may imply repugnance or abhorrence. // you have shunned your responsibilities

avoid

verb

ə-ˈvȯid

Definition of avoid

as in to evade

to get or keep away from (as a responsibility) through cleverness or trickery trying to avoid writing thank-you notes for the gifts he didn't like

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in to abolish

to put an end to by formal action asked the court to avoid the contract because it was signed under duress

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How does the verb avoid contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of avoid are elude, escape, eschew, evade, and shun. While all these words mean "to get away or keep away from something," avoid stresses forethought and caution in keeping clear of danger or difficulty.

try to avoid past errors

When might elude be a better fit than avoid?

While the synonyms elude and avoid are close in meaning, elude implies a slippery or baffling quality in the person or thing that escapes.

what she sees in him eludes me

When is it sensible to use escape instead of avoid?

The words escape and avoid are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, escape stresses the fact of getting away or being passed by not necessarily through effort or by conscious intent.

nothing escapes her sharp eyes

In what contexts can eschew take the place of avoid?

The words eschew and avoid can be used in similar contexts, but eschew implies an avoiding or abstaining from as unwise or distasteful.

a playwright who eschews melodrama

When can evade be used instead of avoid?

In some situations, the words evade and avoid are roughly equivalent. However, evade implies adroitness, ingenuity, or lack of scruple in escaping or avoiding.

evaded the question by changing the subject

Where would shun be a reasonable alternative to avoid?

While in some cases nearly identical to avoid, shun often implies an avoiding as a matter of habitual practice or policy and may imply repugnance or abhorrence.

you have shunned your responsibilities

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of avoid Artists playing into their politics isn’t without risk, as many steer clear to avoid alienating fans or getting embroiled in controversy. — Ethan Millman, HollywoodReporter, 7 Oct. 2026 The film primarily follows Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison), a Facebook employee in the company’s civic integrity team, the group tasked with making sure Facebook acts responsibly and avoids the harmful impacts of its product. — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 7 Oct. 2026 But for the most part, both are getting their points across, landing a few licks and, so far, avoiding the sort of major gaffe or damaging moment that could reshape the race. — AJC.com, 7 Oct. 2026 To avoid the pitfalls of apps like Tinder and Hinge—where women are vastly outnumbered by men and are therefore overwhelmed by choice while men receive very few matches—FirstDate uses a Nobel Prize-winning matching theory algorithm. — Jim Edwards, Fortune, 7 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for avoid

Recent Examples of Synonyms for avoid

Verb

The new Marvel series will see the hero grapple with his identity and humanity while evading a bounty hunter and reuniting with his son.

— Tracy Brown, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2026
Last year, a Houthi missile evaded Israel’s vaunted air defenses and impacted near Ben Gurion airport.

— Tim Lister, CNN Money, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of evade

Verb

This endeavor is not easy, and these companies are strongly advocating for abolishing the leap second.

— Vahe Peroomian, The Conversation, 8 Oct. 2026
Amendment, which abolished slavery and argued that loopholes in the amendment helped pave the way for the mass incarceration of Black Americans.

— Clayton Davis, Variety, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of abolish

Verb

As the comet rotates, fresh ice enters the sunlight and sublimates; the escaping gas then drags entrained dust particles away from the nucleus.

— Joe Rao, Space.com, 13 Oct. 2026
In July, two of OpenAI’s models escaped a testing environment and hacked the open-source AI platform Hugging Face.

— Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of escape

Verb

One person was killed in a strike on Riyadh airport, a Saudia Airlines plane was reportedly in flames, and hundreds of flights have been canceled.

— Matthew Martin, semafor.com, 9 Oct. 2026
To try to ease tensions during loud stretches of construction, Zuckerberg’s staff handed out gifts like noise-canceling headphones.

— Sydney Lake, Fortune, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of cancel

Verb

Anthropic contacted the task force to disclose the latest incident and has a history of reporting security episodes publicly and tweaking models to prevent more harm.

— Ashley Gold, semafor.com, 13 Oct. 2026
There are scores of websites, social-media groups, and YouTube channels dedicated to analyzing and documenting crashes, ostensibly with the goal of preventing future mishaps in flight.

— Sudarsan Raghavan, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of prevent

Verb

On the first day of his second term, the Republican president repealed a Biden-era executive order aimed in part at guarding against the risks that AI systems pose to consumers, workers and national security.

— Garance Burke, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2026
Some in the Legislature have tried to repeal that tax credit in recent years.

— AJC.com, AJC.com, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of repeal

Verb

The conversation also addressed AI, with Velazquez comparing current anxieties to earlier fears that computer animation and motion capture would eliminate traditional animation jobs.

— Davide Abbatescianni, Variety, 13 Oct. 2026
But in 2025, Congress eliminated that tax — and in early August, a federal judge in Texas ruled that without it, those other measures for extra vetting were unconstitutional, the Idaho Statesman reported at the time.

— Sarah Cutler, Idaho Statesman, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of eliminate

Verb

This caused the boat to overturn, sending everyone into the water.

— David Goodhue October 12, Miami Herald, 12 Oct. 2026
The databases used to check citizenship against voter registration lists can be outdated, said Freda Levenson, legal director of the ACLU of Ohio, which has sued to overturn the law.

— Gary Fields, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of overturn

Browse Nearby Words

avocations

avoid

avoidable

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Avoid.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/avoid. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of avoid

verb

Synonym Chooser

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

deportment

Popular in Grammar & Usage

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Popular in Wordplay

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Popular

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

Games & Quizzes