What does "avoid" mean?
To try not to meet or communicate with (a person); to shun.
Avoid
/əˈvɔɪd/ verb
verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: To try not to meet or communicate with (a person); to shun.
- Grammar: avoid is listed as verb.
- Nearest alternatives: avert, dodge, eschew, evade.
- Useful contrasts: acquainted, american history textbook approach, brave.
- Usage evidence: An expert is someone who knows some of the worst mistakes that can be made in his field, and how to avoid them.
How to use "avoid"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "avoid" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "avoid" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "avoid" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "avoid" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "avoid" is acting as verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "avert" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "avoid", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Verb
- 1 To try not to meet or communicate with (a person); to shun. transitive
- 2 stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something wordnet
- 3 To stay out of the way of (something harmful). transitive
"I avoided the slap easily."
- 4 refrain from certain foods or beverages wordnet
- 5 To keep away from; to keep clear of; to stay away from. transitive
"I try to avoid the company of gamblers."
Show 12 more definitions
- 6 prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening; to protect from or to keep away anything undesirable; to ward off wordnet
- 7 To try not to do something or to have something happen. transitive
"Then he realized, by the immobility of the other children and by the way they avoided looking at him, that it was he who was selected for punishment."
- 8 refrain from doing something wordnet
- 9 To make empty; to clear. obsolete, transitive
"If thou haue, he shal lyue with thee, and auoide thee out ; and he shal not sorewen vpon thee."
- 10 declare invalid wordnet
- 11 To make void, to annul; to refute (especially a contract). transitive
"But Y seie, this testament is confermed of God; the lawe that was maad after foure hundrid and thritti yeer, makith not the testament veyn to auoide awei the biheest."
- 12 To defeat or evade; to invalidate. transitive
"[…] in an action for treſpaſſing upon land whereof the plaintiff is ſeiſed, if the defendant ſhews a title to the land by deſcent, and that therefore he had a right to enter, and gives colour to the plaintiff, the plaintiff may either traverſe and totally deny the fact of the deſcent; or he may confeſs and avoid it, by replying, that true it is that ſuch deſcent happened, but that ſince the deſcent the defendant himſelf demiſed the lands to the plaintiff for term of life."
- 13 To emit or throw out; to void. obsolete, transitive
"[…] the citie of Memi where is a great caue oꝛ denne in the which is a ſpꝛynge oꝛ fountayne that continually auoydethe a great quantitie of Bitumen […]"
- 14 To leave, evacuate; to leave as empty, to withdraw or come away from. obsolete, transitive
"Anone they encountred to gyders / and he with the reed shelde smote hym soo hard that he bare hym ouer to the erthe / There with anone came another Knyght of the castel / and he was smyten so sore that he auoyded his fadel"
- 15 To get rid of. obsolete, transitive
"Whanne Y was a litil child, Y spak as a litil child, Y vndurstood as a litil child, Y thouyte as a litil child; but whanne Y was maad a man, Y auoidide tho thingis that weren of a litil child."
- 16 To retire; to withdraw, depart, go away. intransitive, obsolete
"The devyll […] ſayde vnto hym: all theſe will I geve the / iff thou wilt faull doune and woꝛſhip me. Thẽ ſayde Ieſus vnto hym. Avoyd Satan."
- 17 To become void or vacant. intransitive, obsolete
Antonyms
Example
"An expert is someone who knows some of the worst mistakes that can be made in his field, and how to avoid them."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "avoid"?
Common synonyms include: avert, dodge, eschew, evade, shun, abjure.
How do you use "avoid" in a sentence?
An expert is someone who knows some of the worst mistakes that can be made in his field, and how to avoid them.
How do you pronounce "avoid"?
Pronounced /əˈvɔɪd/.
Etymology
From Middle English avoiden, from Anglo-Norman avoider, Old French esvuidier (“to empty out”), from es- + vuidier, from Vulgar Latin *vocitāre < Vulgar Latin *vocitum, ultimately related to Latin vacuus. Displaced native Old English forbūgan (literally “to bend away from”).