circumvent
verb
Lynne McTaggart
Did you know?
The Circular History of Circumvent
If you’ve ever felt as if someone was running circles around those trying to get something done, you have an idea of the origins of circumvent—it comes from the Latin word circumventus, a form of the verb circumvenire, meaning “to surround or go around” (circumvenire combines the adverb circum, “in a circle around,” and the verb venire, “to come”). The earliest uses of circumvent referred to a tactic of hunting or warfare in which the quarry or enemy was encircled and captured. This meaning doesn’t exactly square with modern uses of the word. Today, circumvent more often suggests avoidance than entrapment; to come full circle, it typically means to “get around” someone or something, as by evading a problem or avoiding the law.
Examples of circumvent in a Sentence
Jay McInerney, New York Times Book Review, 10 June 2007
… Rondon and Lyra paddled to the right side, where they found a channel that circumvented the worst part of the rapids.
—Candice Millard, The River of Doubt, 2005
His appreciation of this finer side of life is circumvented by a cynicism that he tells me is common to Eastern Europeans.
—Lynne Tillman, Motion Sickness, 1991
The thirty-six-hour workweek established by the garment-industry code was circumvented by having the workers punch out at five P.M., leave by the back door (their usual entrance), then return by the front door and work until eleven P.M. without punching the clock.
—Melissa Hield, Speaking For Ourselves, (1977) 1984
We circumvented the problem by using a different program.
He found a way to circumvent the law.
Ruth Foxe Blader, Forbes.com, 17 Apr. 2025
Lutnick said a comprehensive approach was needed so that small nations could not be used by larger countries to circumvent the tariffs.
—Douglas Gillison, Ted Hesson, USA Today, 6 Apr. 2025
The next day, Molly and Steve meet with her doctor (David Rasche), and the two men completely circumvent her in discussing her treatment.
—Erin Qualey, Vulture, 4 Apr. 2025
This breach compromised over 3,000 sensitive files, including crucial records from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS), handing China insights into circumventing U.S. financial scrutiny, and threatening the integrity of our economic backbone.
—Jason D. Greenblatt, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for circumvent
Cite this Entry
“Circumvent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/circumvent. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
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circumvent
verb
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