detours 1 of 2

plural of detour
as in deviations
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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detours

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of detour
1
2
as in deviates
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 detours
Noun
Another challenge neighbors are bracing for is longer wait times for Pittsburgh Regional Transit buses with the detours and expected traffic. Chris Hoffman, CBS News, 29 June 2026 Some artists have eras, experimental phases, detours, creative dalliances; Arthur Russell’s career, for all its seeming contradictions—classical minimalism and lascivious disco, Zen Buddhist mantras and winsome country pop—was a continuum. Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 27 June 2026 But with slight detours, an open mind and a critical eye, the ambitious walker can see all the ways the president has pushed to remake the capital. Gary Fields, Chicago Tribune, 26 June 2026 Commercial flights often have to take long, indirect detours to avoid central Beijing, and drones have been effectively prohibited in the city for months. Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, Forbes.com, 26 June 2026 There are several traffic-calming measures such as detours and lane closures that may happen depending on attendance as Fan Festival approaches. Howard Cohen june 24, Miami Herald, 24 June 2026 Cargo that may have once required detours to competing ports can now move efficiently by rail, strengthening the port’s role as a driver of jobs and economic activity for the region. Wes Moore, Baltimore Sun, 22 June 2026 The digressions, detours, and false starts slowly become the real subject of the book. Erik Pedersen, Oc Register, 16 June 2026 Road closures The City of Santa Clara announced a multi-phase plan to close the roads and establish detours surrounding the stadium. Laurence Miedema, Mercury News, 12 June 2026
Verb
The trail undulates a bit over rocky rises and occasionally detours into the woods, but experienced hikers shouldn't have any problems. Robert Annis, Midwest Living, 7 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for detours
Noun
  • In the book, the Senator is a man — Paul Thurman — but Yost previously confirmed that the show makes significant deviations from the source material.
    Katie Mannion, PEOPLE, 3 July 2026
  • The Air units appear in an even darker black than the Fragment edition, and the only deviations in color arrive in the form of white branding on the insole and within the negative space created by the Air outsole.
    Ian Servantes, Footwear News, 30 June 2026
Verb
  • Abu Dhabi has sent tankers through the strait with their transponders turned off to evade Iranian surveillance, and used a pipeline to Fujairah that bypasses the chokepoint.
    Dominic Dudley, semafor.com, 1 July 2026
  • When deleting this temp file, EncryptPro bypasses the Recycle Bin but doesn’t apply secure deletion, so it could theoretically be recovered with forensic software.
    Neil J. Rubenking, PC Magazine, 1 July 2026
Verb
  • The Washington Post spoke to seven current and former National Park Service staffers who said the policy deviates from the agency’s long-standing approach to release as much information as possible.
    Suzanne Rowan Kelleher, Forbes.com, 25 June 2026
  • Extra padding on the tongue and collar blow up the proportions of the silhouette, while a suede, mesh and leather upper deviates from the typical leather build.
    Ian Servantes, Footwear News, 16 June 2026
Noun
  • Recruitment processes are described as clearer and more aligned following the departures of Daniel Levy, the former executive chairman who was deposed in September last year, and ex-managing director of football Fabio Paratici.
    Mark Critchley, New York Times, 4 July 2026
  • The Kansas City Royals continue to be hamstrung untimely departures.
    Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 3 July 2026
Verb
  • New research has now demonstrated a simpler approach that avoids the ultrathin selective coatings traditionally considered essential for precise molecular separation.
    Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 29 June 2026
  • The decision avoids an election-year change in the voting rules and may bolster Democrats in the fall election.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 29 June 2026
Verb
  • As America turns 250, the semiquincentennial feels like a dud — a far cry from 1976’s bicentennial blowout, when pop culture and communal celebrations united a weary nation.
    Culture Critic, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026
  • The heat domes tend to form where the jet stream turns northward, moving up and over the dome itself and leading to strong flows of hot air from the south to the north near the Earth’s surface.
    Andrew Freedman, CNN Money, 1 July 2026
Verb
  • Additionally, because the $50 co-payment circumvents Part D, the amount doesn’t count toward a beneficiary’s annual deductible or out-of-pocket maximum.
    Joshua P. Cohen, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026
  • The exhibit mostly circumvents contextualizing the architectural details of the office, and rather aims to explicate the man who worked within it.
    Katherine McLaughlin, Architectural Digest, 26 June 2026
Verb
  • But the blueness of these districts does mean that the socialists will get elected and likely survive when the pendulum swings back to the Republicans.
    W. James Antle III, The Washington Examiner, 27 June 2026
  • The map introduces the armored Oni, which swings a spiked kanabō, plus Scorched Zombies and fiery Hellhounds tied to its lava-field hazards.
    Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 25 June 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Detours.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/detours. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.

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