noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A step to the side.
2. 2
   a step to one side (as in boxing or dancing) wordnet
3. 3
   A physical motion or metaphorical act to avoid or dodge something.

Verb

1. 1
   To step to the side. intransitive

   "I […] knocked and waited. […] He sidestepped, and I went in."

2. 2
   avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues) wordnet
3. 3
   To avoid or dodge. figuratively, transitive

   "They sidestepped the issue."

Synonyms

All synonyms

hedgeabout the busharound the bushavertavoidavoidance

Example

More examples

"He attempted to sidestep a conflict with his chief."

Etymology

From side + step.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.