avoid
Other forms: avoided; avoiding; avoids
If you avoid drinking coffee right before bed because it tends to keep you awake and makes you jittery, that means that you stay away from coffee at night.
The verb avoid means to stop yourself from doing something or to keep something from happening. You might avoid the old lady next door who smells funny and always wants to pinch your cheek, or you could avoid a certain dangerous neighborhood in your city by taking a different route when you're walking home. It's easy to get avoid confused with a similar word, evade, which means "to avoid in a particularly tricky or sneaky way."
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stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something“Her former friends now avoid her”
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Antonyms:
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confront, face, face up
deal with (something unpleasant) head on
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confront, face, present
present somebody with something, usually to accuse or criticize
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types:
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circumvent, dodge, duck, elude, evade, fudge, hedge, parry, put off, sidestep, skirt
avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues)
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escape, miss
fail to experience
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escape, get away, get by, get off, get out
escape potentially unpleasant consequences; get away with a forbidden action
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bypass, get around, go around, short-circuit
avoid something unpleasant or laborious
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keep off, stay off
refrain from entering or walking onto
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shirk
avoid dealing with
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shy away from
avoid having to deal with some unpleasant task
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eschew, shun
avoid and stay away from deliberately; stay clear of
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beg, beg the question
dodge, avoid answering, or take for granted
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quibble
evade the truth of a point or question by raising irrelevant objections
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evade
use cunning or deceit to escape or avoid
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confront, face, face up
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refrain from doing something
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types:
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fiddle, goldbrick, shirk, shrink from
avoid (one's assigned duties)
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scrimshank
British military language: avoid work
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malinger, skulk
avoid responsibilities and duties, e.g., by pretending to be ill
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slack
avoid responsibilities and work, be idle
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refrain from certain foods or beverages
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prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening
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declare invalid
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synonyms:
annihilate, annul, invalidate, nullify, quash, void
/əˈvɔɪd/
/əˈvɔɪd/
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