circumvent

verb

ˌsər-kəm-ˈvent How to pronounce circumvent (audio)
Definition of circumventnext
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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to avoid
to avoid by going around circumvented the traffic jam by taking an alternate route

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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

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 circumvent The lawsuit, filed in January, originally claimed that unnamed whistleblowers had uncovered WhatsApp’s ability to circumvent the encryption. — Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 24 July 2026 In attempting to follow that instruction, OpenAI said the model spent an hour searching for ways to circumvent sandbox restrictions intended to block external access to the Internet. — Kyle Orland, ArsTechnica, 22 July 2026 Hegseth has already challenged that premise in ways both meaningful and petty, by circumventing the normal promotion process to push out officers far below him or to stall their advancements, and by firing senior officers set for even higher rank. — Missy Ryan, The Atlantic, 22 July 2026 In May, OpenAI also said a separate internal model circumvented its own sandbox restrictions to post benchmark results to GitHub rather than to an internal Slack channel, as it had been told to do. — Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 22 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for circumvent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for circumvent
  1. bypass
  2. avoid
  3. traverse
  4. evade
  5. circle
  6. escape
  7. encircle
  8. ignore
Verb
  • East-West pipeline to the Red Sea, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, to maintain exports at a maximum capacity of 7 million barrels per day.
    — Sam Meredith, CNBC, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Sweeney provided further details regarding her decision in court documents Sunday, emphasizing that athletes who receive a fifth year do not bypass existing transfer regulations, roster limits, or revenue-sharing amounts.
    — Matt Murschel, The Orlando Sentinel, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of bypass
Verb
  • The best way to avoid West Nile virus infection is to take precautionary measures to avoid mosquito bites.
    — Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Kremer has allowed 12 home runs in seven starts this year, avoiding a home run in only one of those turns and ceding multiple homers in three of them.
    — Josh Shepardson, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of avoid
Verb
  • The 42-year-old conquered the Via Alpina, which involves traversing a vast European alpine region stretching east to west from Italy, through Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and finally France and Monaco.
    — Chris Lau, CNN Money, 3 Aug. 2026
  • This multiplayer cooperative adventure game brings you and your friends together to traverse the game's open-world environment and solve puzzles while finding means to communicate.
    — Jason Cohen, PC Magazine, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of traverse
Verb
  • Officials say that has made cross-border cooperation increasingly important, as criminal groups frequently move people and goods across neighboring countries to evade law enforcement.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Not long afterward, the group heard drones in the sky and started moving again, perhaps to evade capture by the military.
    — Alexis Okeowo, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of evade
Verb
  • On the day Tran was ambushed, the vehicle circled the area 16 times before the shooting, according to investigators.
    — Faith Karimi, CNN Money, 8 Aug. 2026
  • The captain of a lobster diving boat, Steven Del Sol, told officials that his vessel was anchored off Fisher Island when Simpson's Conch-brand boat allegedly approached him at high speed and began circling his boat, the arrest affidavit said.
    — Bill Hutchinson, ABC News, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of circle
Verb
  • For those looking to escape the hordes, the Park Lane, set north of central Copenhagen, offers a pocket of peace.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Aug. 2026
  • To escape the CapEx trap, health systems must demand AI architectures that are native to the cloud, inherently interoperable and designed for execution, not just conversation.
    — Sridhar Yerramreddy, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of escape
Verb
  • The paint color that encircles the wallpaper is important, but Chloe Redmond Warner says the bread should be the least exciting part of this sandwich.
    — Kelsey Mulvey, Vogue, 6 Aug. 2026
  • The pendant, which is encircled by diamonds, also includes a heart between the initials.
    — Juliana Ukiomogbe, InStyle, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of encircle
Verb
  • But that didn’t stop him from taping interviews on Wednesday with various Chicago television newscasts from his downtown Chicago state office while ignoring follow-up requests from the Tribune.
    — Rick Pearson, Chicago Tribune, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Where Raphael’s infant Christ is plump, acquiescent, docile, Cassatt’s children squirm, resist, and ignore authority.
    — Carmen Rosenberg-Miller, Artforum, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of ignore

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circumstantiating
circumvent
circumvented
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Cite this Entry

“Circumvent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/circumvent. Accessed 9 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of circumvent for Spanish Speakers

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