circumvent
Definitions
To get around a rule, problem, or obstacle cleverly, rather than confronting it directly.
绕过，规避（规则、障碍）
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedcircum- (around) + vent (come, from Latin venīre) = 'to come around.' Instead of meeting an obstacle head-on, you come around it. The image survives in the modern sense: to circumvent a rule is to find a clever route past it without breaking it directly.
Root ven still carries 84 more wordsCommon Collocations
- 1.circumvent the law规避法律
- 2.circumvent restrictions绕过限制
- 3.circumvent rules规避规则
- 4.circumvent controls绕过管控
Example Sentences
- 1.
The company used loopholes to circumvent the new tax law.
- 2.
Hackers found a way to circumvent the security checks.
- 3.
They circumvented the blockade by taking a longer route.
Easily Confused
circumvent vs evade vs avoid — all mean 'get away from,' but circumvent stresses going cleverly around an obstacle or rule (circumvent a ban); evade implies dodging something you're supposed to face (evade taxes, evade a question); avoid is the plain, general word (avoid traffic). You circumvent a rule by outsmarting it; you evade a duty by escaping it.