as in bypassing
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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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Recent Examples of sidestepping
Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2026
Nathan Canilao, Mercury News, 18 Apr. 2026
And though lawmakers did sign off on giving ICE that $75 billion, Bagenstos says sidestepping the regular funding process is one more way Congress has surrendered power.
—Sam Gringlas, NPR, 13 Apr. 2026
Dylan, who won the Nobel Prize in literature in 2016 and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, has spent much of his later career sidestepping the expectations that come with legacy status.
—Aidin Vaziri, San Francisco Chronicle, 24 Mar. 2026
The signatories also questioned the classification of the bill as an organic law, warning it could be used to give the legislation higher legal standing while sidestepping other environmental and human rights protections.
—Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 24 Mar. 2026
Live Nation’s outside lobbyists were working directly with DOJ leadership to strike a deal, as Semafor scooped, sidestepping the antitrust unit and its former chief, Gail Slater.
—Rohan Goswami, semafor.com, 17 Mar. 2026
Von der Leyen is basically sidestepping for now those lawmakers — an unusual move for the European executive and one likely to prompt criticism.
—ABC News, 27 Feb. 2026
Mindfulness becomes a way of sidestepping the world’s pain rather than engaging with it.
—Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2026
Thompson, the top Democrat on the committee, also criticized Lyons for sidestepping earlier invitations to testify before lawmakers.
—Andrea Castillo, Los Angeles Times, 10 Feb. 2026
Noun
One was the very clear sidestepping of Palestinian sovereignty, and the second was the issue of Iran.
—Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2026
Verb
General manager Ohemaa Nyanin didn’t offer much to bridge that gap, sidestepping the why behind the move in the moments after the draft and leaving the room to sit in the tension of it all.
—Nathan Canilao, Mercury News, 18 Apr. 2026
And though lawmakers did sign off on giving ICE that $75 billion, Bagenstos says sidestepping the regular funding process is one more way Congress has surrendered power.
—Sam Gringlas, NPR, 13 Apr. 2026
Dylan, who won the Nobel Prize in literature in 2016 and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, has spent much of his later career sidestepping the expectations that come with legacy status.
—Aidin Vaziri, San Francisco Chronicle, 24 Mar. 2026
The signatories also questioned the classification of the bill as an organic law, warning it could be used to give the legislation higher legal standing while sidestepping other environmental and human rights protections.
—Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 24 Mar. 2026
Live Nation’s outside lobbyists were working directly with DOJ leadership to strike a deal, as Semafor scooped, sidestepping the antitrust unit and its former chief, Gail Slater.
—Rohan Goswami, semafor.com, 17 Mar. 2026
Von der Leyen is basically sidestepping for now those lawmakers — an unusual move for the European executive and one likely to prompt criticism.
—ABC News, 27 Feb. 2026
Mindfulness becomes a way of sidestepping the world’s pain rather than engaging with it.
—Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2026
Thompson, the top Democrat on the committee, also criticized Lyons for sidestepping earlier invitations to testify before lawmakers.
—Andrea Castillo, Los Angeles Times, 10 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sidestepping
Noun
-
Assistive listening studies report that bypassing room acoustics and delivering audio directly can improve signal‑to‑noise ratios by 15–20 dB, making announcements comprehensible and lectures clearer [8].—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
26 Feb. 2026
-
The facility, intended as the largest addition to the White House since the Oval Office, has sparked debate among historians, preservationists, commentators, and the public due to its demolition of the historic East Wing and the bypassing of standard preservation reviews.—
Associate News Editor,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
Trump also signed an executive order to pay other workers, circumventing Congress again.—
Sam Gringlas,
NPR,
13 Apr. 2026
-
Internet users have gotten used to circumventing the restrictions by using virtual private networks, or VPNs, even as the government has been actively blocking those, too.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Seattle takes coffee seriously, so ducking into Café Vita, one of the city’s indie coffee shops, is practically required.—
Lauren Schuster,
Charlotte Observer,
23 Apr. 2026
-
But a recent global survey conducted by SAP subsidiary WalkMe found that workers are quietly ducking AI use.—
Jacqueline Munis,
Fortune,
13 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
That’s evidenced by the GOP’s skirting of the issue.—
CNN.com,
Mercury News,
3 Oct. 2025
-
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
Verb
-
Oil revenue is the linchpin of Russia’s economy, allowing Putin to pour money into the armed forces without worsening inflation for everyday people and avoiding a currency collapse.—
Lorne Cook,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Perez said long-term solutions include avoiding terrible real estate deals like the city’s purchase nearly a decade ago of a downtown office building on Ash Street that was filled with asbestos.—
David Garrick,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Boldly returned for the second period with an exclamation point, setting up Minnesota’s tying goal by weaving around four Dallas challengers, and pulling Oettinger outside the crease, before passing to Eriksson Ek, who had an open net to hit for his third goal of the playoffs.—
Jess Myers,
Twin Cities,
23 Apr. 2026
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Oliva also made sure the final look never drifted too far from Taylor’s identity, weaving in subtle elements that kept it grounded in the present.—
Brittany Talarico,
PEOPLE,
21 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Amid a strange Clippers season and an ongoing investigation into cap-circumvention allegations, the 34-year-old Leonard has put together arguably his finest season as a Clippers player.—
Joe Vardon,
New York Times,
12 Apr. 2026
-
Clippers investigation Silver said he has been told that the Los Angeles Clippers have been cooperative with the external investigation into their possible circumvention of the salary cap through a suspicious endorsement deal for Kawhi Leonard with a now-bankrupt company.—
Greg Beacham,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
According to police, the evading vehicle was later located and the driver was taken into police custody.—
Staff Report,
Hartford Courant,
22 Apr. 2026
-
Jarvis then spent eight years evading the FBI in Paris, London and Ibiza, after an industrial sized hash-smuggling operation went wrong.—
Richard Johnson,
New York Daily News,
19 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sidestepping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sidestepping. Accessed 26 Apr. 2026.
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