avoid

avoid — verb

1. to deliberately not go near a person, place, or thing because you do not want to

1.verbtransitiveB1
Definition

to deliberately not go near a person, place, or thing because you do not want to meet, see, or be involved with them.

Example

Mei takes the back streets to avoid the busy market on weekends.

avoid + noun (place)

Daniel has been avoiding his ex-girlfriend ever since the awkward dinner last month.

avoid + person (continuous tense)

Common collocations
  • avoid eye contact
  • avoid the crowds
  • avoid each other
  • carefully avoid
Synonyms
  • shun

    stronger and more formal; suggests deliberately rejecting someone or something

  • dodge

    informal; often suggests cleverly slipping past someone or a question

  • steer clear of

    informal phrase; means to keep a safe distance from

Antonyms
  • approach

    to move closer to a person or place

  • confront

    to face someone or a problem directly instead of staying away

Grammar Patterns

avoid + noun phrase

avoid + person/place/thing

Usage Note

Object is usually a person, place, or thing the subject chooses not to engage with. Distinguish from sense 2: this sense is about physical or social distance, not stopping an event.

Common Mistakes

I avoided to meet her at the party.
I avoided meeting her at the party.
after 'avoid', use the -ing form, never the to-infinitive.
He avoided from the noisy café.
He avoided the noisy café.
'avoid' is transitive and takes a direct object with no preposition.

2. to take action so a bad event does not occur, or to deliberately choose not to d

2.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

to take action so a bad event does not occur, or to deliberately choose not to do a certain thing.

Example

Wear a helmet on your bike to avoid serious injury if you fall.

avoid + noun (negative event)

Sofia drinks lots of water to avoid getting headaches at work.

avoid + -ing form

Common collocations
  • avoid a problem
  • avoid a mistake
  • avoid the risk
  • narrowly avoid
  • avoid the issue
Synonyms
  • prevent

    stronger; usually means stopping something from happening at all

  • refrain from

    formal; means choosing not to do something, often briefly

  • sidestep

    often used for skilfully avoiding a question, problem, or rule

Antonyms
  • cause

    to make a bad event happen rather than stop it

  • risk

    to do something that could lead to a bad result

Grammar Patterns

avoid + -ing verb

avoid + noun (problem/event)

Usage Note

When followed by a verb, that verb must be in the -ing form (gerund), never a to-infinitive. Object is typically something unwanted: a problem, danger, mistake, or unhealthy habit. Distinguish from sense 1: here you stop an event or behaviour, not a person.

Common Mistakes

You should avoid to eat too much sugar.
You should avoid eating too much sugar.
'avoid' is always followed by -ing, never to + verb.
Wearing a seatbelt avoids you to get hurt.
Wearing a seatbelt helps you avoid getting hurt.
'avoid' does not take a person + to-infinitive structure.
Idioms

avoid someone/something like the plague

idiom

to try very hard to stay away from a person or thing because you really dislike or fear them.

Ever since their loud argument, Hannah has been avoiding her cousin like the plague.

Many tourists avoid that street market like the plague after the pickpocketing reports.

avoid the trap of (doing) something

idiom

to be careful not to make a common mistake that looks sensible at first.

New managers should avoid the trap of saying yes to every new request.

Young investors often avoid the trap of buying shares only because prices are rising.

avoid somebody/something like the plague

idiom

To make a strong effort to stay away from a person or thing.

After the argument, Tom avoided his roommate like the plague.

Why do you avoid math homework like the plague?

to fall into/avoid the trap of doing something

idiom

To start doing something that seems good but is actually a mistake, or to not do that.

Mia fell into the trap of checking her phone every five minutes.

The chef avoided the trap of adding too much salt to the soup.

Word family

  • avoidable
    adjectiveB2
  • unavoidable
    adjectiveB2
  • avoidance
    nounC1
  • avoidably
    adverbC2
  • unavoidably
    adverbC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/2

All four describe stopping something unwanted, but the angle differs. 'Avoid' is the everyday choice and works for both staying away from people and not doing things — 'avoid sugar', 'avoid an argument'. 'Prevent' is stronger and more active: you take a step that stops the event from ever happening — 'wearing a helmet prevents head injuries'. 'Evade' suggests cleverly slipping past a danger, duty, or question, often with a hint of dishonesty — 'evade taxes', 'evade the question'. 'Elude' is more literary and means something escapes your reach, often without effort on its part — 'the answer eluded her for years'. So you avoid eating junk food, you prevent illness, a thief evades the police, and an idea eludes your memory.

avoidpreventevadeelude

Common collocations

Nouns

  • problem
  • mistake
  • risk
  • danger
  • conflict
  • delay
  • injury
  • confrontation

Adverbs

  • carefully
  • deliberately
  • narrowly
  • successfully
  • completely

Phrases

  • in order to avoid
  • do everything possible to avoid
  • no way to avoid
  • avoid at all costs

Prepositions

  • by + -ing

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

'Avoid' came into English in the late 1300s from Old French 'esvuidier', meaning 'to empty out' or 'clear away'. The French word combined the prefix 'es-' (out) with 'vuide' (empty), the same root that gives us 'void'. The early English meaning was literally 'to make empty' or 'to send away', and over time the focus shifted from emptying a space to keeping yourself away from something unwanted, giving us today's main meanings of staying clear of people and preventing bad events.