Meaning of evasion in English

Table of contents

Noun
evasion
Etymology
late Middle English (in the sense ‘prevaricating excuse’): via Old French from Latin evasio(n-), from evadere (see evade)
Definitions
1. a statement that is not literally false but that cleverly avoids an unpleasant truth
Derived terms
2. the deliberate act of failing to pay money
Examples
- « his evasion of all his creditors »
- « he was indicted for nonpayment »
Antonyms
3. nonperformance of something distasteful (as by deceit or trickery) that you are supposed to do
Examples
- « his evasion of his clear duty was reprehensible »
- « that escape from the consequences is possible but unattractive »
Derived terms
4. the act of physically escaping from something (an opponent or a pursuer or an unpleasant situation) by some adroit maneuver
Derived terms

Famous quotes

« Bad humor is an evasion of reality good humor is an acceptance of it. »
Malcolm Muggeridge
« In all secrets there is a kind of guilt, however beautiful or joyful they may be, or for what good end they may be set to serve. Secrecy means evasion, and evasion means a problem to the moral mind. »
Gilbert Parker
« Go right straight down the road, to do what is best, and to do it frankly and without evasion. »
George C. Marshall
« Poetry may make us from time to time a little more aware of the deeper, unnamed feelings which form the substratum of our being, to which we rarely penetrate for our lives are mostly a constant evasion of ourselves. »
T. S. Eliot