avert

verb

ə-ˈvərt 

averted; averting; averts

transitive verb

1

: to turn away or aside (the eyes, one's gaze, etc.) in avoidance

I found the sight so grotesque that I had to avert my eyes …

—John Gregory Dunne

2

: to see coming and ward off : avoid

avert disaster

Synonyms

• prevent

Examples of avert in a Sentence

He sped up and averted an accident.

The diplomatic talks narrowly averted a war.

an attempt to avert a strike at the plant

Recent Examples on the Web

Thanks to their collective efforts, well over one million child deaths were averted. —Jennifer Lotito, Forbes.com, 2 July 2025

In November, the city transit system averted a strike when the parties agreed to a one-year contract with 5% raises. —Preston Fore, Fortune, 2 July 2025

Yes, there’s that scene in Arrival where global nuclear war is narrowly averted by a linguistics lecture, which is kind of funny — but probably not intentionally. —Benjamin Svetkey, HollywoodReporter, 28 June 2025

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that vaccinating children born from 1994 to 2023 will avert 508 million illnesses and 1,129,000 premature deaths. —Jake Scott, The Conversation, 26 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Middle French avertir, from Latin avertere, from ab- + vertere to turn — more at worth

First Known Use

circa 1563, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing avert

• avert one's eyes

Rhymes for avert

• alert
• assert
• dessert
• divert
• evert
• exert
• inert
• insert
• invert
• nightshirt
• overt
• revert

Kids Definition

avert

verb

ə-ˈvərt 

1

: to turn away

avert one's eyes

2

: to keep from happening

averted an accident