detour 1 of 2

as in deviation
a turning away from a course or standard we'll regard this relapse as just a brief detour on your road to recovery from substance abuse

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detour

2 of 2

verb

1
as in to bypass
to avoid by going around we had to detour the construction zone in order to get to the stadium

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2
as in to deviate
to change one's course or direction we had to detour for a few miles around the section of highway under construction

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of detour
Noun
Arriving at your destination on time but having your luggage take a detour is not the best way to start a trip. Barbara Peterson, AFAR Media, 8 May 2025 Make no assumptions in order to avoid unwanted detours. Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 5 May 2025
Verb
Unable to cross into Fond Parisien to get to the capital, truck drivers are detouring through the narrow ridges of the southeast’s Chaîne de La Selle, Haiti’s highest mountain. Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 27 Apr. 2025 Drivers will be detoured to I-77 during the closure. Joe Marusak, Charlotte Observer, 29 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for detour
Recent Examples of Synonyms for detour
Noun
  • But for the most part, the pattern established by Reagan has persisted ever since, and deviations — like Bush’s tax hike, which contributed to his loss in 1992 — are remembered more as cautionary tales than examples to emulate.
    Dylan Matthews, Vox, 22 May 2025
  • Both the North Carolina appeals court and the North Carolina Supreme Court allowed some of the votes in question to be tossed out—a stark deviation from other courts who considered and dismissed such claims in the last few years.
    Sean Morales-Doyle, Time, 21 May 2025
Verb
  • There are multiple ways hackers use to bypass fingerprint scanners.
    Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 25 May 2025
  • Don’t even think of trying to bypass the French luxury house’s notoriously long waiting lists by tapping the workshop for a classic Birkin or Kelly.
    Joelle Diderich, Footwear News, 24 May 2025
Verb
  • No one deviates, because no one has an incentive to, unless someone changes the underlying payoff structure.
    Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 23 May 2025
  • Like Episode 3 of Season 1, Sunday’s installment of the series was the rare episode that deviated from the game’s narrative to tell a deeper story about the characters.
    Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 19 May 2025
Noun
  • Ottawa fans were shocked by the early departure of one of the team’s breakout personalities.
    Hailey Salvian, New York Times, 22 May 2025
  • But in the wake of Stewart's surprise departure, showrunner Erica Messer salvaged the scene for Thursday’s emotional sendoff.
    Jessica Wang, EW.com, 22 May 2025
Verb
  • Estonia said that a Russian military jet violated its airspace on May 13 after the Estonian Navy tried to stop the tanker Jaguar, believed to be in Moscow's shadow fleet that circumvents oil sanctions.
    Brendan Cole, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 May 2025
  • But Epic said that Apple was circumventing the ruling.
    John Yoon, New York Times, 21 May 2025
Verb
  • At Christian Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri worked to turn a legacy house into a home.
    Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue, 29 May 2025
  • The model, who turns 18 on May 29, 2025, made her runway debut in 2023 Comments Zaya Wade is one stylish teenager!
    Alexandra Schonfeld, People.com, 29 May 2025
Verb
  • Hoerner avoided the tag, which would’ve been the second out of the inning.
    C. Trent Rosecrans, New York Times, 26 May 2025
  • The officer recommended the Palestinians be dressed in army clothes to avoid misidentification.
    Sam Mednick, Los Angeles Times, 25 May 2025
Verb
  • The president's team has now swung the pendulum in the opposite direction from five years ago, even attempting to rescind findings of constitutional violations in the cities where Floyd and Taylor lost their lives.
    Phillip M. Bailey, USA Today, 27 May 2025
  • The momentum swung again on the next hole when Griffin saved par from behind a tree in the fairway and Schmid curiously aimed away from the hole with his ball plugged in a bunker, ended up in the rough and made bogey.
    CBS News, CBS News, 25 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Detour.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/detour. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.

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