evasion

UK/ɪˈveɪʒən/US/ɪˈveɪʒən/

nounB2+Common in everyday speech and writing · #7,808 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: evasions

Evasion is the act of dodging a question or a duty. Tax evasion, an evasion of responsibility, skilful evasion.

In tax it is precise and criminal: evasion is illegal and avoidance is legal, and the whole public argument turns on that line. Of a question, evasion is answering without answering. Note evasive, as in an evasive answer and evasive action; and that the word comes from the Latin for going out, so an evasion is a way out.

Definitions of evasion

1nounevasionThe act of dodging a question or a duty.B2+
“The minister's answer was pure evasion; he never said yes or no.”

evasion is a dodging.

Where it comes from

Latin evasio comes from evadere, to go out — e plus vadere, to go. Invade, pervade and wade come from the same going.

Proto-Indo-European
*weh₂dʰ-
Latin
evasionem
Middle French
évasion
English, today
evasion

From Middle French évasion, from Latin evasionem (accusative of evasio).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

Practise this word

evasion in the wild

Federal authorities became intent on jailing Capone and charged him with twenty-two counts of tax evasion.
Al Capone
Sometimes draft evasion involves refusing to comply with the military draft laws.
Draft evasion
Such evasion is generally considered to be a criminal offense, and laws against it go back thousands of years.
Draft evasion
Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others.
Tax evasion
Tax evasion is an activity commonly associated with the informal economy.
Tax evasion

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

tax evasion

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