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circumvent

verb

Simple meaning

To avoid or get around something.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

serkuhmvehnt

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

sɚkəmˈvɛnt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. transitive

    To avoid or get around something; to bypass

  2. Surround so as to force to give up

  3. transitive

    To surround or besiege

  4. transitive

    To outwit or outsmart

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced (estimated)
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Primarily written

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To avoid or get around something; to bypass

Used this way, circumvent is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

easily circumventcircumvent problemsthus circumvent

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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

  • evade

    To get away from by cunning.

  • dodge

    To avoid; to sidestep.

  • skirt

    To move around or along the border of.

  • sidestep

    To avoid or dodge.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: to avoid or get around something

skirtdodge

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.