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# evasive

adjective (evasive; more evasive, most evasive)

«evasive» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. If someone is evasive, they avoid giving a clear, direct answer, often because they are hiding something. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/evasive/#m1)
2. Evasive action is a quick movement to avoid danger, such as swerving or ducking. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/evasive/#m2)

### In the lessons

In stories and the news, an evasive answer is a clue that a character or politician may be hiding the truth. In safety talk, a driver or pilot «takes evasive action» to avoid a crash. In nature, animals use evasive moves to escape predators. Phrases: «an evasive answer», «be evasive about», «take evasive action».

### Examples

- When I asked who ate the cake, my brother was very evasive. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/evasive/#x1)
- The minister gave an evasive answer to the question. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/evasive/#x2)
- The pilot took evasive action to avoid the birds. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/evasive/#x3)
- The rabbit made evasive zigzags to escape the fox. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/evasive/#x4)
- Stop being evasive and tell me what happened! [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/evasive/#x5)
- Her evasive reply made the detective suspicious. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/evasive/#x6)

### Note

Verb: evade (to avoid); noun: evasion. Adverb: evasively. Trap: «tax evasion» (illegal, hiding money) is different from «tax avoidance» (using legal tricks).

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «evasive» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/evasive/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«evasive» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/evasive.html) on Mova free.