sidestep
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A physical motion or metaphorical act to avoid or dodge something.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
sydstepSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsaɪdstɛp
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A physical motion or metaphorical act to avoid or dodge something.
A step to one side (as in boxing or dancing)
verb
intransitive
To step to the side.
Avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues)
transitivefigurative
To avoid or dodge.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Uncommon
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A physical motion or metaphorical act to avoid or dodge something.
Used this way, sidestep 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
- Matter-of-fact
- 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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What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
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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.