Word.ws English Dictionary

esquivalience

Syllables: es·qui·val·i·ence/ˌɛs.kwɪˈveɪ.li.əns/

esquivalience noun: deliberate shirking of one's official duties.

Noun

esquivalience (uncountable)

  1. Deliberate shirking of one's official duties.
    • The New Oxford American Dictionary, for example, defines "esquivalience" as "the wilful avoidance of one's official responsibilities" […] they were "trying to make a word that could not arise in nature". But ploughing through to result 112 of 51,800 Google search hits turned up the phrase...2006, New Scientist, volume 192, numbers 2572-2577, page 62
    • 'Esquivalience', McKean explained, was chosen as a reflection of how diligently the team had grafted; they wanted to catch people who displayed ultimate esquivalience by simply copying all of their hard work.2011, Alex Horne, Wordwatching: One Man's Quest for Linguistic Immortality, page 34

Examples of esquivalience in a sentence

  • But ploughing through to result 112 of 51,800 Google search hits turned up the phrase "esquivalience in the Oval Office".2006, New Scientist, volume 192, numbers 2572-2577, page 62:
  • Ah, and so now after a lifetime of esquivalience you wish to play the hero!2012, Pasha Malla, People Park, House of Anansi Press, published 2012, →ISBN:
  • If you don't stop the cuts in funding for music, that—that'd be esquivalience on your part.”2012, Kathleen O'Reilly, Beyond Seduction, Mills & Boon, published 2012, →ISBN:
  • Springfield's esquivalience in formulating a motto for his town via a well-known speech was disappointing.2014, Dan Lewis, Now I Know More: The Revealing Stories Behind Even More of the World's Most Interesting Facts, "F+W Media, Inc.", →ISBN...

Origin of esquivalience

Made up as a copyright trap in the 2001 New Oxford American Dictionary, and said to be related to French esquiver (“evade, dodge, duck”). Began to see actual use by 2006, after having been identified as fictitious in 2005. The entry is still present in the dictionary's third edition (2010).

Questions about esquivalience

What does esquivalience mean?
Esquivalience means deliberate shirking of one's official duties.
How do you use esquivalience in a sentence?
But ploughing through to result 112 of 51,800 Google search hits turned up the phrase "esquivalience in the Oval Office".
What part of speech is esquivalience?
Esquivalience is a noun.
How do you pronounce esquivalience?
Esquivalience is pronounced /ˌɛs.kwɪˈveɪ.li.əns/.

Words near esquivalience in the dictionary

  1. esquiresses
  2. esquiring
  3. esquisse
  4. esquisses
  5. esquites
  6. esquivalience
  7. Esquivel
  8. Esquivels
  9. Esquivias
  10. Esquiviases
  11. ESR

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: esquivalience (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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-esquivalience.ogg.

Cite this entry: “esquivalience.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/esquivalience. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.