Synonyms for swerve

25 synonyms
1 meaning

verb
noun

Most common

turn aside bend deviate veer avoid angle

All synonyms

Verb

1. Veer — to turn aside or deviate to avoid impact

veer, turn, deviate, bend, turn aside, trend, deflect, sheer, curve, stray, cut, wander, diverge, depart, slew, vary, divaricate, digress

Other

avoid, angle

Noun

veering, drift, flinch, yaw, shrink

Definitions

v. 1
To turn aside or deviate to avoid impact.
n. 1
A sudden movement out of a straight line, for example to avoid a collision.

Forms

Plural: swerves → veerings, drifts, flinches, yaws…
Past participle: swerved
e.g. swerved → veered, turned, deviated, bent…

Choose the right word

Swerve, Veer, Swerves or Veers?

To swerve or veer is to turn suddenly from a prescribed or previous course, and often but momentarily; veer is more capricious and repetitious; the horse swerves at the flash of a sword; the wind veers; the ship veers with the wind.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

bend Bend over backwards for him and he still complain.
deviate Do not deviate from the standard operating procedure.
veer You shouldn't veer off from the focus.
avoid She started early in order to avoid the rush hour.
angle Let's approach the problem from a different angle.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
swerve		rising
bend		rising
deviate		steady
veer		rising
avoid		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: cut¹, yaw¹
4 letters: turn¹, vary², bend¹, slew¹, veer¹
5 letters: avoid², trend¹, angle², curve¹, sheer¹, drift¹, stray¹
6 letters: wander², depart², shrink¹, flinch¹
7 letters: deflect², deviate³, diverge², digress², veering²
10 letters: divaricate

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (vary² = 2 syllables).