circumvent
/səːkəmˈvɛnt/verb
circumvent is spelled C-I-R-C-U-M-V-E-N-T: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,835th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, circumvent means “to avoid or get around something; to bypass” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in circumvent?
| Letters | 10: C-I-R-C-U-M-V-E-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.4 times per million words; the 23,835th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is circumvent?
Circumvent appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,835th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce circumvent?
- /səːkəmˈvɛnt/
Circumvent has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-circumvent.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of circumvent
- circumvents present, singular, he/she/it
- circumventing participle, present
- circumvented participle, past
- circumvene
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does circumvent mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
to avoid or get around something; to bypass
- 2
to surround or besiege
- 3
to outwit or outsmart
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Circumvent in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | contourner , cerner , circonvenir |
| German | umgehen , umlagern , ausmanövrieren |
| Portuguese | contornar , rodear, cercar |
| Spanish | circunvalar, soslayar, contornear, contornar, rodear |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does circumvent come from?
Learned borrowing from Latin circumveniō.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).