MEANING
To avoid an obstacle or restriction by finding an indirect route or method.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- circumvent a restriction
- circumvent an obstacle
On the page
They circumvented the blockade by using a path too narrow for the carts.
He found a way to circumvent the rule without resolving the problem it addressed.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- circumvent
- Past tense
- circumvented
- Past participle
- circumvented
- Present participle
- circumventing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- circumvent
- Present continuous
- am/is/are circumventing
- Present perfect
- have/has circumvented
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been circumventing
- Past
- circumvented
- Past continuous
- was/were circumventing
- Past perfect
- had circumvented
- Past perfect continuous
- had been circumventing
- Future
- will circumvent
- Future continuous
- will be circumventing
- Future perfect
- will have circumvented
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been circumventing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary. Forms: circumvent; circumvents; circumvented; circumvented; circumventing Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: circumvents.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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