Avoiding

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /əˈvɔɪdɪŋ/

Definitions

1. The process of intentionally refraining from involvement with particular issues or individuals; the practice of not confronting or addressing certain subjects actively; a conscious effort made to sidestep specific challenges or interactions
2. The act of deliberately staying clear of certain situations or people to prevent interaction or trouble
3. Choosing not to engage with particular topics or individuals as a means of staying out of conflict or difficulty

Etymology: The verb "avoid" began as a literal instruction to empty a space. Its ancestor in Old French, "esvuidier", meant "to empty out", and it came from a Vulgar Latin verb built on the same root as the Latin "vacuus", meaning empty. Someone who avoided a room in that sense was clearing it out, not keeping away from it. The sense of keeping clear of something developed from that emptying. To void or vacate a place led to leaving it alone, and then to steering around a person, subject or danger. Middle English took the word in this form, displacing the native Old English "forbūgan", which literally meant "to bend away from". So the everyday meaning of withdrawing from trouble grew out of a verb about making a space bare.

Synonyms: eschewing, shunning, dodging, evading, eluding

Antonyms: confronting, facing, encountering, embracing, accepting