eschew
/ɪsˈtʃuː
/ /ɛsˈtʃuː/verb [with object]
Deliberately avoid using; abstain from: he appealed to the crowd to eschew violence...
- This country has avoided faith-based violence by eschewing theocratic government.
- On the plus side, unlike Julian and Sean Lennon, she has been smart enough to avoid direct comparisons by eschewing a musical career.
- Coleman deliberately eschews the emotional seduction natural to the film medium.
Synonyms
abstain from, refrain from, give up, forgo, forswear, shun, renounce, swear off, abjure, steer clear of, have nothing to do with, give a wide berth to, fight shy of, relinquish, reject, dispense with, disavow, abandon, deny, gainsay, disclaim, repudiate, renege on, spurn, abnegate, abdicate, wash one's hands of, drop
informal kick, jack in, pack in
Law disaffirm
archaic forsake
Derivatives
eschewal
- The situation is, of course, a reflection of changing social attitudes over a somewhat longer period - highlighted by a rising divorce rate, increasing eschewal of marriage and modern moral values.
- There will be differences on issues of gender, and of life issues and perhaps sexuality, but there can be a genuine convergence about issues of human dignity, human need, and the eschewal of violence.
- Given the steady decline of classical education during the twentieth century his eschewal of such references may well come as a moderate relief to many twenty-first-century readers.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Old French eschiver, ultimately of Germanic origin and related to German scheuen 'shun', also to shy1.
Rhymes
- street fight
- street fighter
- street fighting
- street firing
- street floor
- street food
- street front
- streetful
- street furniture
- street gas
- street girl
- street gossip
- street grid
- street hockey
- streetie
- streeting
- street island
- street jewellery
- street-keeper
- street kid
- street lamp
- street-legal
- street length
- streetless
- streetlet