avoidance

avoidance — noun

1. the action of staying away from a person, place, or activity, or making sure tha

1.nounB2
Definition

the action of staying away from a person, place, or activity, or making sure that something does not take place.

Example

Esme's avoidance of her noisy neighbour made her take the long route home each evening.

avoidance of + person

Careful avoidance of sugar helped Rohan lose ten kilos in six months.

avoidance of + concrete noun

Common collocations
  • tax avoidance
  • avoidance of conflict
  • avoidance of contact
  • deliberate avoidance
Synonyms
  • evasion

    stronger; suggests dodging a duty or responsibility, often dishonestly

  • prevention

    stopping something bad before it starts; less about staying away

  • shunning

    deliberate social rejection of a person or group

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

avoidance of + noun

Usage Note

Almost always followed by 'of' + noun phrase. Common in formal contexts (legal, medical, policy) more than in everyday speech, where 'avoiding' as a verb is preferred.

Common Mistakes

She has an avoidance to spiders.
She has an avoidance of spiders.
use 'of', not 'to' or 'for', after avoidance.
He practised avoidance the meeting.
He practised avoidance of the meeting.
the preposition 'of' is required before the noun.

2. a pattern of behaviour where a person regularly keeps clear of certain situation

2.nounC1
Definition

a pattern of behaviour where a person regularly keeps clear of certain situations, feelings, or people because they expect those things to bring them stress, fear, or pain.

Example

Dr. Olu explained that avoidance is a common response to past trauma.

avoidance as psychological coping pattern

Therapists often treat anxiety by gently breaking the patient's pattern of avoidance.

pattern of avoidance

Common collocations
  • avoidance behaviour
  • avoidance strategy
  • experiential avoidance
  • pattern of avoidance
Synonyms
  • denial

    refusing to accept reality; avoidance refuses to engage with it

  • withdrawal

    pulling back from people or activity; broader and often emotional

  • escapism

    seeking distraction in fantasy or pleasure to flee real problems

Antonyms
  • approach

    in psychology, the opposite coping style: facing what scares you

  • acceptance

    acknowledging difficult feelings rather than turning away

Grammar Patterns

avoidance + noun (behaviour, coping, strategy)

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1: this sense names a habitual coping style or psychological response, not a single act. Common in clinical and therapy contexts, often in compounds like 'avoidance behaviour', 'avoidance strategy', or 'experiential avoidance'.

Common Mistakes

He showed an avoidance yesterday.
He showed avoidance behaviour yesterday.
this sense is uncountable and often needs a modifier noun like 'behaviour'.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words describe keeping clear of something, but they differ in tone and target. 'Avoidance' is the neutral choice and works for people, things, and events alike: 'avoidance of conflict', 'avoidance of fatty food'. 'Evasion' is stronger and usually negative, suggesting that the person is dodging a duty or rule — hence 'tax evasion' (illegal) versus 'tax avoidance' (legal). 'Prevention' shifts the focus to stopping something bad before it begins; you prevent fires or disease, you don't 'avoid' them in the same way. 'Shunning' applies almost exclusively to people and signals deliberate, often public, social rejection: 'the village shunned the family for years.' So Esme's quiet avoidance of her neighbour is far softer than openly shunning her.

avoidance ↗evasionprevention ↗shunning

Common collocations

Nouns

  • tax avoidance
  • conflict avoidance
  • risk avoidance
  • avoidance behaviour
  • avoidance strategy

Adverbs

Phrases

  • pattern of avoidance
  • policy of avoidance
  • in avoidance of

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchAnglo-FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

Formed in late Middle English from the verb 'avoid' plus the noun-forming suffix '-ance', which English borrowed from Old French and ultimately from Latin '-antia'. 'Avoid' itself reached English through Anglo-French 'avoider' (to empty out, clear away), built on Old French 'vuide' meaning empty. The early sense was literal — emptying or vacating a place — and only later shifted to the modern meaning of keeping clear of someone or something.