1
Core action
Prevent an undesirable event or turn one's eyes or attention away.
Example
Early action averted a wider outbreak.
avert
/əˈvɜːrt/ · uh-VURTverb
Prevent an undesirable event or turn one's eyes or attention away.
Use avert to express this relationship precisely: prevent an undesirable event or turn one's eyes or attention away.
What avert Really Means
The word becomes easier to use when its closely related senses are separated and compared.
2
Common construction
Use this expression in its normal grammatical frame so the relationship between the surrounding ideas remains explicit.
Example
The pilot's quick response averted disaster.
3
Reasoning effect
It tells the reader how to interpret the timing, scope, evidence, contrast, condition, or consequence in the statement.
Example
She averted her eyes from the bright light.
Use avert Naturally
Notice how the surrounding noun or clause reveals the exact shade of meaning.
Early action averted a wider outbreak.
The pilot's quick response averted disaster.
She averted her eyes from the bright light.
Precision Matters
Avert overlaps with several common words, but each carries a different emphasis.
avert
vs.Means prevent an undesirable event or turn one's eyes or attention away.
induce
Means to cause or bring about.
avert
vs.Means prevent an undesirable event or turn one's eyes or attention away.
perpetuate
Means cause a condition, practice, belief, or problem to continue indefinitely.
avert
vs.Means prevent an undesirable event or turn one's eyes or attention away.
promote
Means encourage, support, or contribute to the development, progress, growth, or acceptance of something.
avert
vs.Means prevent an undesirable event or turn one's eyes or attention away.
preventable
Means capable of being stopped or avoided before it happens.
Test avert in Context
The action prevents the threatened event from occurring.
1
Reinforcing the dam before the monsoon may ___ a catastrophic flood.