avert
/əˈvɜːt/US/əˈvɝt/
avert verb: to turn aside or away.
Verb
avert (third-person singular simple present averts, present participle averting, simple past and past participle averted)
- To turn aside or away.
- I averted my eyes while my friend typed in her password.
- When atheists and profane persons do hear of so many discordant and contrary opinions in religion, it doth avert them from the church.1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Unity in Religion”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC
- To ward off, or prevent, the occurrence or effects of.
- How can the danger be averted?
- Till ardent prayer averts the public woe.1700, Matthew Prior, Carmen Seculare. for the Year 1700
- Synonyms:
- forestall
- To turn away.
- Cold and averting from our neighbour's good.a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Spring”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, →OCLC
avert meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
avert in Hindi
- to turn aside
- टालना ṭālnā
- to ward off
- रोकना roknā
avert in Tamil
- அணுகவிடாது தடு, தடு, வேறு பக்கமாகத் திருப்பு
avert in Marathi
- to avert
- टाळणे ṭāḷṇe
avert in Urdu
- باز رکھنا, دفع کرنا, روکنا, ٹوکنا
More languagesFewer languages
- avert in Bengali
- এড়ানো, নিবারণ করা, দৃষ্টি সরিয়ে নেওয়া
- avert in Malayalam
- ഒഴിവാക്കുക oḻivākkuka, അകറ്റുക akaṟṟuka
- avert in Kannada
- ತಪ್ಪಿಸು, ಮಲರು, ಮಳ್ಗಿಸು, ಮಗ್ಗಿಸು
- avert in Sanskrit
- परिच्छिद् paricchid, वृक्ते vṛkte
Examples of avert in a sentence
- Not only were his eyes averted from mine, but they were glassed to an uncanny degree.
- She will avert her tail to the side (flagging), standing still when the male mounts.
- Many weak countries have averted attack or conquest by bargaining with aggressors.
Synonyms of avert
Forms of avert
| third-person singular present | averts |
|---|---|
| present participle | averting |
| past participle | averted |
| past | averted |
Origin of avert
From Middle English averten, adverten, from Old French avertir (“turn, direct, avert; turn the attention, make aware”), from Latin āvertere, from ab + vertō (“to turn”).
Words formed from avert
Words that rhyme with avert
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- pervert
- advert
- alert
- divert
- inert
- concert
- deconvert
- girt
- lirt
- shirt
- spurt
- subvert
- vert
- wort
- blurt
- chert
- curt
- desert
- dessert
- exert
- introvert
- Leaving Cert
- overt
- red alert
- sturt
- wert
- ambivert
- ambiverts
- apert
- Baie Verte
- begirt
- BERT
- birt
- dissert
- extrovert
- gert
- gurt
- insert
- Kurt
- pirate shirt
- poet shirt
- puffball skirt
- quirt
- reassert
- smirt
- unalert
- unhurt
- wedding shirt
Questions about avert
- What does avert mean?
- Avert means to turn aside or away.
- What is avert in Hindi?
- Avert in Hindi is टालना (ṭālnā), रोकना (roknā). See Avert meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is avert?
- Avert is a verb.
- How do you pronounce avert?
- Avert is pronounced /əˈvɝt/ (US).
- What is the past tense of avert?
- The past tense of avert is averted.
Words near avert in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: avert (page history and authors); avert (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); टाळणे (Marathi) (page history and authors); avert (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); avert (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); avert (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); परिच्छिद् (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-avert.wav.
Cite this entry: “avert.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/avert. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.