evitable
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Capable of being avoided or prevented: Describes a situation, event, or outcome that can be averted or kept from happening through deliberate action or foresight.
Usage
The word "evitable" is a formal adjective. It is most commonly used in academic, legal, or philosophical contexts to discuss the nature of events and human agency. It is the direct antonym of the much more common word "inevitable."
Examples
- Adjective:
- The accident was entirely evitable; a simple safety check would have prevented it.
- Many of the project's delays were evitable and resulted from poor planning.
- Philosophers debate whether any event is truly inevitable or if all are, in principle, evitable.
Advanced Usage
- "Evitable" vs. "Avoidable": While often used interchangeably, "evitable" can carry a slightly more formal or absolute connotation, sometimes implying the event could have been entirely, not just sidestepped. "Avoidable" is the far more common choice in everyday language.
- The financial crisis was an evitable catastrophe. (Suggests it was preventable in a broad sense)
- Taking the other road was an avoidable mistake. (Suggests a specific action could have been chosen differently)
Variants and Related Words
- Inevitable (adj): Certain to happen; unavoidable. This is the direct and far more common antonym.
- Death is often seen as inevitable.
- Evitability (n): The quality of being evitable. This noun is very rare.
- The evitability of the conflict was a key point in the analysis.
Synonyms
- Avoidable: Capable of being avoided.
- Preventable: Capable of being prevented or stopped.
- Avertible: Capable of being turned away or prevented.
Antonyms
- Inevitable: Unavoidable; certain to happen.
- Unavoidable: Not able to be avoided or prevented.
- Inescapable: Impossible to avoid or escape.
Adjective
- capable of being avoided or warded off