as in prevented
to keep from happening by taking action in advance
her careful planning averted disaster
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Recent Examples of averted
In Connecticut and across New England, where talk of electricity tends to turn on highest-in-the-nation rates, the potential cold weather energy emergency faced by customers elsewhere was averted, but that success comes with a warning.
—
Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 8 Feb. 2026
After hours of House of Commons debate, a vote was averted when the government gave in to lawmakers' anger and agreed that the Intelligence and Security Committee would decide what papers should be published, rather than a senior civil servant as Starmer had proposed.
—Jill Lawless The Associated Press, Arkansas Online, 5 Feb. 2026
Prosecutors described the assassination attempt as a narrowly averted, while Routh suggested his actions were a peaceful protest, reported the Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Network.
—Natalie Neysa Alund, USA Today, 4 Feb. 2026
It’s estimated that the eradication effort has averted 100 million cases of the disease.
—Theresa Gaffney, STAT, 2 Feb. 2026
In the case of Meta (META) , shares recaptured the 200-day and gapped above it – crisis averted for now.
—Jay Woods, CNBC, 29 Jan. 2026
Another special skill for binocular astronomers that isn’t intuitive is averted vision.
—Jase Parnell-Brookes, Space.com, 23 Jan. 2026
The crisis was averted and the B’s scored the next four goals to win going away.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 22 Jan. 2026
For the moment, the crisis seems to have been averted.
—Thomas Wright, The Atlantic, 22 Jan. 2026
Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 8 Feb. 2026
After hours of House of Commons debate, a vote was averted when the government gave in to lawmakers' anger and agreed that the Intelligence and Security Committee would decide what papers should be published, rather than a senior civil servant as Starmer had proposed.
—Jill Lawless The Associated Press, Arkansas Online, 5 Feb. 2026
Prosecutors described the assassination attempt as a narrowly averted, while Routh suggested his actions were a peaceful protest, reported the Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Network.
—Natalie Neysa Alund, USA Today, 4 Feb. 2026
It’s estimated that the eradication effort has averted 100 million cases of the disease.
—Theresa Gaffney, STAT, 2 Feb. 2026
In the case of Meta (META) , shares recaptured the 200-day and gapped above it – crisis averted for now.
—Jay Woods, CNBC, 29 Jan. 2026
Another special skill for binocular astronomers that isn’t intuitive is averted vision.
—Jase Parnell-Brookes, Space.com, 23 Jan. 2026
The crisis was averted and the B’s scored the next four goals to win going away.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 22 Jan. 2026
For the moment, the crisis seems to have been averted.
—Thomas Wright, The Atlantic, 22 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for averted
prevented
Verb
-
Firearm safety activists say the shootings could have been prevented by following Michigan's safe storage law.—
Heath Kalb,
CBS News,
3 Mar. 2026
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However, the contract included non-disparagement and binding arbitration clauses which would have prevented the siblings from going to the police with their allegations or suing the Jackson estate in open court.—
Jazz Monroe,
Pitchfork,
3 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Averted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/averted. Accessed 4 Mar. 2026.
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