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Glite Dictionary
↩️ An alternate route ↩️ To take another way
to detour

to detour

12 3.7
To go by a longer route to avoid a blocked road
  • verb
  • /ˈdiːtʊr/
: desviarse
  • Due to the road closure, we had to detour through the countryside to reach the city.

Think of it as if a bubble gets stuck, the fluid has to detour around it.

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Examples

  • Detouring to avoid the riot.

    Hotel Artemis (2018)

  • We're detouring.

    Do Your Worst (2023)

  • Do I make it work or do I detour off the left and take the next project?

    Film Courage

  • To think I let him detour me from my original purpose.

    He Said, She Said (1991)

  • The most significant learning can often result when students detour from the initial plan.

    Academic text (1998)

  • One road was totally blocked by traffic, and the police were detouring cars.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • In Terre Haute, a wreck caused our driver to detour onto a back country road.

    Blog text (32)

  • I'm willing to detour.

    Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)

  • You'll have to detour.

    Earthquake (1974)

  • A trip to the cafeteria requires detouring around nesting albatross, displaying pairs, nestlings, and, at the same time, dodging low-flying birds.

    Academic text (1999)

Synonyms

to divert
vsto detour
105 4.2

To cause something like traffic or a river to go a different way

involves choosing a longer route to avoid obstacles rather than being forced to change
to meander
vsto detour
19 5.3

To move slowly along a curving path

involves taking a longer purposeful route to avoid obstacles rather than wandering
around Robin Hood's barn
vsto detour
  • UK
9.9

To take a long, unnecessary route to reach a place or answer

is used when the longer way is needed to avoid an obstacle

Antonyms

to stay on track
14 3.2

To focus on a goal without getting distracted

How Indirect

to circumvent
44 7.7
to bypass
121 4.7
to detour
12 3.7
to skirt
14 4.4
to veer
65 4.2

Surface Forms

detour infinitive
detoured past
detoured past participle
detouring present participle
detours third person singular

Etymology

Detour as a verb comes from the same French parts de- 'away' and tour 'turn'. So to detour is to go by a different route that 'turns you away' from your normal path to avoid an obstacle.