circumvented

verb

past tense of circumvent
1
as in bypassed
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 avoided
to avoid by going around circumvented the traffic jam by taking an alternate route

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in traversed
to travel completely around most casual joggers will be able to circumvent the reservoir without too much of a strain

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 circumvented Kawhi Leonard’s trade to the Toronto Raptors is on hold pending the outcome of the NBA’s investigation into whether the Los Angeles Clippers circumvented salary-cap rules, the teams announced Thursday. — Tim Reynolds, Chicago Tribune, 10 July 2026 The Toronto Raptors put the brakes on acquiring Kawhi Leonard from the Clippers, announcing Thursday that the trade is on hold until the NBA investigation into whether the Clippers circumvented salary cap rules is complete. — Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 9 July 2026 The law, intended to restrict youth access, was easily circumvented by tech-savvy young people who found workarounds. — John Tamny, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026 The clearance eases a confrontation that erupted two weeks ago when the government abruptly barred Anthropic from giving foreign nationals access to Mythos 5 and a related model, Fable 5, over fears that security guardrails could be circumvented. — Josh Wingrove, Fortune, 27 June 2026 Anthropic had brushed off the White House’s concerns that guardrails on its Fable 5 model could be circumvented, adding to the string of fights the AI lab has gotten into with the White House. — Liz Rappaport, semafor.com, 16 June 2026 Torre’s team, and later The Athletic, dug into the connections between Aspiration and Clippers’ billionaire owner Steve Ballmer, who had invested $60 million in the company, and the NBA announced an investigation to determine whether Ballmer and the Clippers circumvented salary cap rules. — Shakeia Taylor, New York Times, 29 May 2026 The court ruled that lawmakers had circumvented anti-gerrymandering standards passed by voters when adopting the prior map. — ABC News, 4 May 2026 Search and rescue team members circumvented the gate by riding a dirt bike and were able to locate the injured man, officials said. — Sam Gillette, PEOPLE, 30 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for circumvented
  1. bypassed
  2. avoided
  3. traversed
  4. evaded
  5. circled
  6. ignored
  7. encircled
  8. escaped
Verb
  • If it had been exploited, an attacker could have bypassed the Chrome sandbox to make the browser access local files.
    — Ryan Whitwam, ArsTechnica, 30 July 2026
  • The Ohio native bypassed a likely Day 2 draft slot to return to Bloomington for his fifth season, giving the Hoosiers an essential veteran presence on offense.
    — Dane Brugler, New York Times, 30 July 2026
Definition of bypassed
Verb
  • The Mariners avoided a third consecutive loss in a four-game series that started as a matchup of the top two teams in the AL West.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 26 July 2026
  • The initial read was that Gonzalez, who dealt with a strained hamstring earlier this year, avoided a significant injury and shouldn’t miss any time.
    — Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 26 July 2026
Definition of avoided
Verb
  • Around 100 commercial vessels traversed the strait on a typical day before the war.
    — Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN Money, 27 July 2026
  • Bear tracks showed where a pair of grizzlies had traversed our island and swum to the far shore.
    — John Todd, Outdoor Life, 9 July 2026
Definition of traversed
Verb
  • One was Ona Judge, who escaped and evaded Washington’s yearslong effort to recapture her.
    — John Garrison Marks, The Atlantic, 25 July 2026
  • For the rest of us that the nerdy reference evaded, Jarvis recently won Atlanta's starting SS job, and manager Walt Weiss won't stop raving about the 25-year-old speedster.
    — John Laghezza, New York Times, 24 July 2026
Definition of evaded
Verb
  • The Chinese ship circled the Philippine vessel continuously, as its water cannon hit the ship.
    — Ivan Watson, CNN Money, 24 July 2026
  • During the group stage, the team from tiny Curaçao, after a 7-1 loss to Germany, circled in prayer on the pitch.
    — the Monitor’s Editorial Board, Christian Science Monitor, 16 July 2026
Definition of circled
Verb
  • The remarks struck a nerve in a country grappling with persistently high youth unemployment and quickly became a rallying cry for a generation that says it feels ignored by those in power.
    — Rhea Mogul, CNN Money, 25 July 2026
  • There's another trendline as well — patients who delay coming in until their symptoms are so severe they can't be ignored.
    — Durrie Bouscaren, NPR, 25 July 2026
Definition of ignored
Verb
  • Lining the outer cell membrane, at the base of the cilia, were simple structures, each encircled by a single membrane.
    — Marlowe Starling, Quanta Magazine, 27 July 2026
  • The area along the Cumberland River where more than 100 people once lived is now encircled by fences and no-trespassing signs.
    — Marissa J. Lang, NPR, 21 July 2026
Definition of encircled
Verb
  • The song picks up a locomotive rhythm, as if the only way to reflect on those scenes is with the momentum of having escaped them.
    — Amanda Wicks, Pitchfork, 25 July 2026
  • Wacha also escaped trouble by stranding two runners in the sixth.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 25 July 2026
Definition of escaped

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circumvent
circumvented
circumventing
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Cite this Entry

“Circumvented.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/circumvented. Accessed 1 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on circumvented

Nglish: Translation of circumvented for Spanish Speakers

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