1
as in circumventing
to avoid having to comply with (something) especially through cleverness
the eager enlistee sidestepped the regulations by lying about his age
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in bypassing
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Recent Examples of sidestepping
Shomik Mukherjee, Mercury News, 20 Sep. 2025
Environmental groups and the Miccosukee tribe had sued the state and federal government for sidestepping federal environmental regulations when erecting the site in an airstrip in Big Cypress National Preserve.
—Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 9 Sep. 2025
The two countries have also increasingly settled transactions in rubles and yuan with Putin announcing that 90% of the two countries transactions are being settled in those currencies as of December 2024, sidestepping Western financial systems.
—Earl Carr, Forbes.com, 4 Sep. 2025
Then, in the summer between fifth and sixth grade, Little joined Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat, sidestepping the platforms’ limits by lying about their age.
—Charlotte Alter, Time, 20 Aug. 2025
But immigration activists accused the agency of sidestepping those restrictions.
—Seth Klamann, Denver Post, 11 Aug. 2025
This enables organizations to centralize control while sidestepping many of the risks associated with DIY pipelines.
—Taylor Brown, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2025
There’s no sidestepping this directive.
—Zack Savitsky, Quanta Magazine, 13 Dec. 2024
Rather than set itself up for a losing battle of expectations against those stores, Amazon is simply sidestepping it.
—Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, The Verge, 22 Nov. 2024
Noun
Coliseum officials did weigh the possibility of sidestepping the permitting issue altogether — or at least letting the purchasers worry about it.
—Shomik Mukherjee, Mercury News, 20 Sep. 2025
Environmental groups and the Miccosukee tribe had sued the state and federal government for sidestepping federal environmental regulations when erecting the site in an airstrip in Big Cypress National Preserve.
—Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 9 Sep. 2025
The two countries have also increasingly settled transactions in rubles and yuan with Putin announcing that 90% of the two countries transactions are being settled in those currencies as of December 2024, sidestepping Western financial systems.
—Earl Carr, Forbes.com, 4 Sep. 2025
Then, in the summer between fifth and sixth grade, Little joined Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat, sidestepping the platforms’ limits by lying about their age.
—Charlotte Alter, Time, 20 Aug. 2025
But immigration activists accused the agency of sidestepping those restrictions.
—Seth Klamann, Denver Post, 11 Aug. 2025
This enables organizations to centralize control while sidestepping many of the risks associated with DIY pipelines.
—Taylor Brown, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2025
There’s no sidestepping this directive.
—Zack Savitsky, Quanta Magazine, 13 Dec. 2024
Rather than set itself up for a losing battle of expectations against those stores, Amazon is simply sidestepping it.
—Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, The Verge, 22 Nov. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sidestepping
Verb
-
On the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast, journalist Pablo Torre reported that Leonard wasn’t obligated to perform services to Aspiration, that the deal would end if the Clippers traded Leonard and that the payments were understood as circumventing the cap.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
10 Sep. 2025
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And in cases where credentials are compromised, attackers can operate from within, circumventing network protections entirely.—
Camellia Chan,
Forbes.com,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Videos of the shooting show witnesses screaming in horror and ducking for cover after the bullet struck Kirk in the neck.—
Peter D'Abrosca , Michael Ruiz,
FOXNews.com,
11 Sep. 2025
-
Then, everyone started ducking down.—
Bill Hutchinson,
ABC News,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Adam Kron, a senior attorney at the environmental advocacy group Earthjustice, said any company ignoring or avoiding regulations entirely reminds him of the fracking boom in the early 2010s, when companies moved quickly to drill, poisoning some local communities’ groundwater in the process.—
Taylor Kate Brown,
ProPublica,
17 Sep. 2025
-
Build Money-Saving Habits For George Morgan-Grenville, founder of the luxury travel company Red Savannah, avoiding chaos often comes down to avoiding unnecessary fees.—
Alesandra Dubin,
Southern Living,
17 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Here, Eady speaks with Deadline about the fun of weaving a fantastical and spiritual tale about the real threats of land loss and economic hardships in the Black community.—
Destiny Jackson,
Deadline,
12 Sep. 2025
-
Guzman fell in love with the way Williams captures the beauty of everyday life, weaving humor, heartache and joy into a story that feels both deeply personal and universally resonant.—
American Booksellers Association,
USA Today,
11 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The Dominator 3, at its base a Ford F-350, features an armored shell and skirting designed to keep winds from lifting the vehicle; strong windows, equipment for tracking weather data and a hydraulic spike system used to anchor the vehicle to the ground.—
Nathan Pilling,
Kansas City Star,
5 Sep. 2025
-
Architectural Details From cornices to skirting boards, architectural features are part of the foundation of English style.—
Kristina McGuirk,
Better Homes & Gardens,
28 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The shooter fled on a bike, riding it into Central Park, evading capture and prompting a dayslong manhunt.—
Matt Lavietes,
NBC news,
16 Sep. 2025
-
Villa have enjoyed a successful style, evading risk and playing with precision.—
Jacob Tanswell,
New York Times,
11 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Even dodging the sand, but being too far right, means there is no direct line to the green.—
Scott Kramer,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
-
The viral trend has fueled fiery online debates — with TikToks showing everything from brides dodging cake by bending over backwards to grooms chasing their new wives across the room just to land the smash.—
Kimberlee Speakman,
PEOPLE,
11 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Congress and the Commerce Department should execute oversight and enforcement accordingly to monitor for tariff evasion and circumvention.—
Joel Thayer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 Sep. 2025
-
Researchers also found code modules that mention detecting and slowing down specific circumvention tools.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
15 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sidestepping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sidestepping. Accessed 20 Sep. 2025.
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