1
as in circumvents
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 sidesteps
Second, structure it in familiar legal language so that supervisors recognize it as a security or other traditional instrument, and only then represent it in tokens; this approach sidesteps unproductive security-versus-utility debates while ensuring that investor protections remain intact.
—
Juan Arroyo, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
Despite the glossy subject matter, Winocour neatly sidesteps clichés, instead searching for quiet moments that give the story emotional resonance.
—Joelle Diderich, Footwear News, 5 Sep. 2025
Tatum sidesteps a question about whether joining Marvel now — at a moment when many industry observers think the brand is past its peak — made sense.
—Daniel D'addario, Variety, 2 Sep. 2025
This is mission creep in action—by breaking the police state’s hostile takeover of the country and our Constitution into a series off incremental moves, the administration sidesteps the broad public backlash that a single, sweeping declaration of martial law would provoke.
—John Whitehead, Oc Register, 16 Aug. 2025
However, critics argue that the project sidesteps the real crisis facing New York City.
—Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 6 Aug. 2025
Perhaps not, but King of the Hill sidesteps this line of inquiry by presenting the Aramco base, as seen in flashback later in the episode, as what Hank imagines life to be like in the ’50s.
—Genevieve Koski, Vulture, 4 Aug. 2025
Juan Arroyo, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
Despite the glossy subject matter, Winocour neatly sidesteps clichés, instead searching for quiet moments that give the story emotional resonance.
—Joelle Diderich, Footwear News, 5 Sep. 2025
Tatum sidesteps a question about whether joining Marvel now — at a moment when many industry observers think the brand is past its peak — made sense.
—Daniel D'addario, Variety, 2 Sep. 2025
This is mission creep in action—by breaking the police state’s hostile takeover of the country and our Constitution into a series off incremental moves, the administration sidesteps the broad public backlash that a single, sweeping declaration of martial law would provoke.
—John Whitehead, Oc Register, 16 Aug. 2025
However, critics argue that the project sidesteps the real crisis facing New York City.
—Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 6 Aug. 2025
Perhaps not, but King of the Hill sidesteps this line of inquiry by presenting the Aramco base, as seen in flashback later in the episode, as what Hank imagines life to be like in the ’50s.
—Genevieve Koski, Vulture, 4 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sidesteps
Verb
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But the Free Speech Coalition said companies might still be liable if a user in a state requiring age verification circumvents geographic targeting with a VPN.—
Jasmine Mithani,
Them.,
3 Sep. 2025
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Unfortunately, this entire process circumvents the necessary regulatory and congressional oversight processes.—
DP Opinion,
Denver Post,
19 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Tintinnabuli was inspired, in part, by Pärt’s interest in much earlier styles of Christian music, including Gregorian chant – the single-voice singing of Roman Catholicism – and Renaissance polyphony, which weaves together multiple melodic lines.—
Jeffers Engelhardt,
The Conversation,
10 Sep. 2025
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On Water Expeditions The Hooghly River weaves through the Indian state of West Bengal from the Ganges, its parent river, to the sea, through a landscape lined with mustard fields and mango orchards.—
Bailey Berg,
AFAR Media,
9 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Shifting key conversations to group settings builds alignment, avoids silos and saves time.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
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The new system avoids this brute-force approach.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Ahmed stars as Ash, an anonymous broker who dodges that Orwellian surveillance to help sketchy companies and whistleblowers come to an agreement.—
Meredith G. White,
AZCentral.com,
27 Aug. 2025
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The iRobot Roomba Essential quietly cleans the floors, dodges furniture like it’s lived here forever, and empties itself when it’s done.—
Juhi Wadia,
PC Magazine,
10 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Renewed sanctions may not deal much of an economic blow to Iran, especially if China evades them, but can be a potent political tool to stir fears of vulnerability and future military action, a Washington Institute expert argued.—
semafor.com,
semafor.com,
1 Sep. 2025
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There has been a lot of research into understanding how cancer evades the body’s immune system, and the ways that science might be able to get around that.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
4 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The way a Newfoundland dog carefully ducks his head to avoid getting bumped by a car trunk has captured hearts across the internet.—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Publishizer’s business model bypasses the traditional route to commercial publishing, in which authors must first win an agent, who then approaches large commercial publishers.—
Elaine Pofeldt,
Forbes.com,
13 Sep. 2025
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Instead, the command silently downloads Shamos, bypasses macOS Gatekeeper protections, and installs the malware.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
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For most companies and CEOs, the metrics would be preposterously out of reach — among them are an eight-fold increase in market valuation and a 30-fold increase in earnings — but that ignores Musk’s ability to marshal investor enthusiasm and pull off new product launches.—
Liz Hoffman,
semafor.com,
16 Sep. 2025
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But this framing ignores reality.—
Israel Melendez Ayala,
Time,
16 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sidesteps.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sidesteps. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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