1
as in to bypass
to avoid having to comply with (something) especially through cleverness
employees who try to circumvent the company's dress code
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to avoid
to avoid by going around
circumvented the traffic jam by taking an alternate route
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to traverse
to travel completely around
most casual joggers will be able to circumvent the reservoir without too much of a strain
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of circumvent
And by locking in a rate now, buyers can circumvent any changes in the rate market that may cause rates to rise before closing.
—
Matt Richardson, CBS News, 4 Feb. 2026
In Fraenkel’s account, an authoritarian system can preserve a normative state—courts, procedures, legality—while simultaneously constructing a prerogative state that overrides or circumvents those constraints in the name of necessity, emergency, or national survival.
—Alejandro Reyes, Washington Post, 3 Feb. 2026
Learning French, German, Italian, or Spanish also offered a means of circumventing Ireland’s draconian censorship regime.
—Literary Hub, 2 Feb. 2026
Last year, Zohran Mamdani successfully pulled off a longshot bid for mayor despite strong opposition from the Post and from The New York Times’ opinion section, largely by running a campaign fueled by circumventing old media with buzzy viral videos and stunts.
—Max Tani, semafor.com, 2 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for circumvent
Matt Richardson, CBS News, 4 Feb. 2026
In Fraenkel’s account, an authoritarian system can preserve a normative state—courts, procedures, legality—while simultaneously constructing a prerogative state that overrides or circumvents those constraints in the name of necessity, emergency, or national survival.
—Alejandro Reyes, Washington Post, 3 Feb. 2026
Learning French, German, Italian, or Spanish also offered a means of circumventing Ireland’s draconian censorship regime.
—Literary Hub, 2 Feb. 2026
Last year, Zohran Mamdani successfully pulled off a longshot bid for mayor despite strong opposition from the Post and from The New York Times’ opinion section, largely by running a campaign fueled by circumventing old media with buzzy viral videos and stunts.
—Max Tani, semafor.com, 2 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for circumvent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for circumvent
Verb
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The goal was to bypass political debate and constitutional constraints by anchoring Castro’s repressive agenda in the authority of Washington's security apparatus.—
Evandro Cruz Silva,
The Dial,
10 Feb. 2026
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Trains were bypassing the stop in both directions while police tried to piece together what unfolded.—
Adi Guajardo,
CBS News,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Avian influenza continues to cause significant mortality in wild birds, prompting the Arkansas Department of Agriculture to recommend avoiding contact with wild birds.—
Bryan Hendricks,
Arkansas Online,
15 Feb. 2026
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During warmer months, when the path is crowded with tourists in leisure mode, anyone who walks with a purpose should avoid the Bridge at all costs.—
Katie James Watkinson,
Condé Nast Traveler,
15 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The wolf traversed through much of the Sierra Nevada and was part of a pack in Tulare County, which is located west of Fresno and just north of Bakersfield.—
Dean Fioresi,
CBS News,
8 Feb. 2026
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The disorder resulted in far fewer Palestinians traversing the border between Egypt and Gaza than was expected, nearly two years after Israel seized and shut the crossing.—
Oren Liebermann,
CNN Money,
7 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Somehow their petition—miraculously evading Confederate interception and traveling, via the Bahamas, to Washington—arrived on the Navy secretary’s desk, though they likely weren’t released until the end of the war.—
Drew Gilpin Faust,
The Atlantic,
8 Feb. 2026
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Edwards, who trains such police departments as the New York Police Department on drone threat mitigation, points to fiber-optic drones that can evade radio frequency detection systems as a particular concern.—
Anna Schecter,
CBS News,
7 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Detectives noted a consistent gait and distinctive walking pattern across videos captured before and after the shooting, including footage showing the suspect circling the area for hours and later walking away from the Barus & Holley building shortly after the gunfire.—
Ashley Carnahan,
FOXNews.com,
10 Feb. 2026
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By the time Victor Villa arrived at his restaurant Villa’s Tacos in Highland Park on Monday afternoon, a mob of press surrounded him, a line of customers had stretched down the block since daybreak, and cars and TV-news satellite trucks circled the parking lot, double parked in front of red curbs.—
Stephanie Breijo,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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There were no sitters within that catalogue of misses — nothing toe-curling or likely to do a million views on YouTube — but his profligacy allowed Dortmund to escape with a 2-1 win.—
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor,
New York Times,
9 Feb. 2026
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To escape Earth’s energy crunch, SpaceX is taking AI to orbit, where near-constant solar energy replaces Earth’s strained power grids.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
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But it’s presented here with invigorating flourishes that encircle the story within specific moments in time, while also granting it a stirring dramatic transcendence.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
13 Feb. 2026
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The rock was encircled by a whopping 58 more pink diamonds, plus one half-moon diamond on either side.—
Christina Perrier,
InStyle,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Still, even inside the awards-season bubble, the turmoil surrounding the movie business, the country and the world beyond it was hard to ignore.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Feb. 2026
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They're exhausted by the constant airing of grievances having little to do with what's actually going on in the country, and by the broad generalizations about, well, everything, that ignore context, nuance and facts to promote a political viewpoint.—
Brenda Looper,
Arkansas Online,
11 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Circumvent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/circumvent. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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