detour 1 of 2

as in deviation
a turning away from a course or standard we'll regard this relapse as just a brief detour on your road to recovery from substance abuse

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detour

2 of 2

verb

1
as in to bypass
to avoid by going around we had to detour the construction zone in order to get to the stadium

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2
as in to deviate
to change one's course or direction we had to detour for a few miles around the section of highway under construction

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of detour
Noun
The tune detours into skittering blues, via Hiromi, and a half-time, funkalicious breakdown. Hannah Edgar, Chicago Tribune, 5 Apr. 2025 Skyway users hoping to go from east to west will need to take an outdoor detour route across Wabasha Street between Lawson Commons and TRIA Rink. Kyle Stokes, Axios, 3 Apr. 2025
Verb
Typically, the process goes like this: Vehicles are detoured into the checkpoint from the highway, queuing up if there is a line. Suzanne Gamboa, NBC News, 15 Mar. 2025 But Long Bright River detours heavily into the opioid crisis and police corruption. Mikey O'Connell, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for detour
Recent Examples of Synonyms for detour
Noun
  • Vehicle or pedestrian deviations account for about half of the runway incursions at KCI, followed closely by pilot error.
    Robert A. Cronkleton, Kansas City Star, 10 Mar. 2025
  • This would mark a deviation from NATO's Article 5, which treats an attack on any member as an attack on all.
    Hannah Parry, Newsweek, 7 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem issued the first waiver of the administration to speed President Trump’s border wall, bypassing environmental regulations to aid construction.
    Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill, 8 Apr. 2025
  • Luna, a cosponsor of the bill, moved to bypass leadership and launched a discharge petition, a procedural move that allows a measure to move forward without the speaker's approval, to force a vote on it.
    Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 7 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • The main function of the yeast deviated from producing good beer to simply being able to survive for an extraordinarily long period of time without its primary food source: barley sugar.
    Gary Stoller, Forbes.com, 14 Apr. 2025
  • Even Porziņģis missing time throughout the playoffs didn’t force the Celtics to deviate much from their plan.
    Jay King, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • With the departures of DeMarcus Lawrence and Zack Martin, a void on the team’s leadership council exists.
    Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 Apr. 2025
  • With the departure of Apple this month, the mall is now in its final days.
    David Petitti, Chicago Tribune, 14 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • In 2025, anticipate a more surgical integration of AI with real-world systems, sparking innovation built on the increasingly sophisticated replication of agentic workloads, or else technology circumventing the need for AI altogether.
    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
Verb
  • Ryan Coogler first turned heads with his 2013 debut Fruitvale Station, a shattering account of a fatal shooting that presaged the surge of the Black Lives Matter movement.
    David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 10 Apr. 2025
  • Lisa Rinna turned Wednesday’s H&M & LA event in Los Angeles into a family affair, attending the event alongside her daughters Delilah Belle and Amelia Gray Hamlin.
    Julia Teti, Footwear News, 10 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • Get to an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building and avoid windows.
    STAR-TELEGRAM WEATHER BOT, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 Apr. 2025
  • Houston threw numbers behind the ball for most of the game to avoid getting hit by the deadly counterattacks and transitions KC has been known for.
    Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 20 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, (Last week: 1) The betting odds have swung massively into Gilgeous-Alexander’s favor with Jokić missing so many games recently with an ankle injury.
    Zach Harper, New York Times, 27 Mar. 2025
  • Still no timetable on anything, but he’s been able to swing the bat and feel like there’s been some steady improvement day after day.
    Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 27 Mar. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Detour.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/detour. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.

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