eschew

verb

e-ˈshü How to pronounce eschew (audio)
Definition of eschewnext
as in to avoid
to get or keep away from (as a responsibility) through cleverness or trickery the minister eschews involvement in local politics, since he doesn't want to diminish his moral authority in the community

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How does the verb eschew contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of eschew are avoid, elude, escape, evade, and shun. While all these words mean "to get away or keep away from something," eschew implies an avoiding or abstaining from as unwise or distasteful.

a playwright who eschews melodrama

Where would avoid be a reasonable alternative to eschew?

The meanings of avoid and eschew largely overlap; however, avoid stresses forethought and caution in keeping clear of danger or difficulty.

try to avoid past errors

When is elude a more appropriate choice than eschew?

The words elude and eschew are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, elude implies a slippery or baffling quality in the person or thing that escapes.

what she sees in him eludes me

When could escape be used to replace eschew?

While the synonyms escape and eschew are close in meaning, escape stresses the fact of getting away or being passed by not necessarily through effort or by conscious intent.

nothing escapes her sharp eyes

When is it sensible to use evade instead of eschew?

The words evade and eschew can be used in similar contexts, but evade implies adroitness, ingenuity, or lack of scruple in escaping or avoiding.

evaded the question by changing the subject

When would shun be a good substitute for eschew?

Although the words shun and eschew have much in common, shun often implies an avoiding as a matter of habitual practice or policy and may imply repugnance or abhorrence.

you have shunned your responsibilities

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 eschew The best thing any family member, friend, religious or civic association colleague can do for a job seeker is to eschew admonition or advice; instead pitch in and provide direct assistance. —Michael Bernick, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025 Deep in Hawaii territory with a three-point lead and six minutes left, the Cardinal eschewed the ground attack that gave them the lead and decided to throw a pass. —Erick Smith, USA Today, 26 Aug. 2025 Similarly, Romańczyk doesn’t eschew the presence of AI in medicine. —Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2025 Romvari often eschews traditional point-of-view shots, and cinematographer Maya Bankovic complements that decision by favoring a long-lens shooting style with occasional zooms. —Josh Slater-Williams, IndieWire, 13 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for eschew
Recent Examples of Synonyms for eschew
  1. avoid
  2. evade
  3. escape
Verb
  • However, by sharing so much of Lisa's code, the interface practically demanded a pointing device, and the mouse was selected, even though Raskin had so carefully tried to avoid it.
    — Cameron Kaiser, ArsTechnica, 12 Sep. 2025
  • These writers will work under the latest Public Television Freelance Agreement, which the WGA East ratified in December after a lengthy and sometimes contentious negotiation cycle with PBS, narrowly avoiding a strike.
    — Katie Campione, Deadline, 12 Sep. 2025
Definition of avoid
Verb
  • The discovery adds a new dimension to understanding cancer and therapy resistance, where cells often evade treatment by shifting states.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 9 Sep. 2025
  • But Moscow has found ways to evade these.
    — Ivana Kottasová, CNN Money, 9 Sep. 2025
Definition of evade
Verb
  • With roughly 180 resorts spread across its atolls, there are dozens of worthy five-star escapes to choose from.
    — Katie Lockhart, Travel + Leisure, 7 Sep. 2025
  • Auger-Aliassime played some of his best tennis since the early 2020s in the second and fourth sets, winning the former and having Sinner on the edge of going a break down for 3-1 in the latter, before the Italian escaped.
    — Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2025
Definition of escape

Browse Nearby Words

escarpments
eschew
eschewal
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

“Eschew.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/eschew. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.

Copy Citation

Share

More from Merriam-Webster on eschew

Nglish: Translation of eschew for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Using Bullet Points ( • )

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

A Guide to Using Semicolons

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 3

Our Best Historical Slang Terms

Birds Say the Darndest Things

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

Better Ways to Say 'This Sucks'
See More

Popular

See More

Using Bullet Points ( • )

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 3

Our Best Historical Slang Terms
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
high school student holding a pencil leaning over a sat test
Challenging Standardized Test Words 20 questions to help you score 1600
See All