Circumventors

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A group of individuals who devise strategies to bypass obstacles or regulations in order to achieve their goals
2. Persons who skillfully find ways around restrictions or limitations, often employing clever tactics
3. Those who engage in actions to evade or outsmart established rules or challenges through ingenuity

Etymology: "Circumventor" is simply the plural of "circumventor," an agent noun built from the verb "circumvent" plus the suffix "-or." The verb comes from Latin "circumvenire," meaning "to come around" or "to surround," formed from "circum" ("around") and "venire" ("to come"). The sense of getting around something by trickery arrived in English in the 1500s, when "circumvent" was used to mean deceiving or outwitting someone, close to "to get round them" in the literal sense of surrounding. The English verb entered the language in the late 1400s, and its earliest uses carried the notion of cheating or entrapping a person. Over time the meaning shifted from overcoming a person by deception toward evading a rule, law, or obstacle, which is how it is most commonly used today. The agent noun "circumventor" follows the same pattern as words like "conqueror" or "investor," describing one who performs the action.

Synonyms: avoiders, evaders, tricksters, deceivers

Antonyms: conformists, obeyers, followers, adherents