逃避 (táo bì) — to evade; to avoid; to escape

Definition

逃避 means to evade or run away from something unpleasant (responsibility, feelings, problems) — avoiding rather than confronting. More deliberate avoidance than 躲避 (which covers dodging danger), broader in meaning than 推卸 (only shirking blame).

verb
to evadeto avoidto escape

Examples

  • 逃避逃避
    Tā wèi le táo bì zé rèn, jū rán zé rèn, táo bì zhēn de cí zhí le.
    To evade responsibility, he actually resigned.
  • 逃避
    Miàn duì kùn nan, wǒ men bú yīng gāi táo bì, ér yào yǒng gǎn jiě jué.
    Facing difficulties, we should not run away but solve them bravely.
  • 逃避
    Tā zǒng shì táo bì nèi xīn de zhēn shí gǎn shòu.
    She always evades her true inner feelings.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

avoid

逃 and 避 both convey fleeing or avoiding, so together they mean to evade something.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
Written in full aschuòwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
zhàotáo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

逃 pairs 辶 (walk) with 兆, which gives the pronunciation.

Open 逃 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
Written in full aschuòto walk
Sound part声符shēngfú
Same sound today

避 is built from 辶, a walking-related form, plus 辟, which gives the pronunciation.

Open 避 →

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