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Eschew vs Obviate - What's the difference?

eschew | obviate |

As verbs the difference between eschew and obviate

is that eschew is to avoid; to shun, to shy away from while obviate is to bypass a requirement or make it unnecessary; to avoid a future problem or difficult situation.

eschew

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • (formal) To avoid; to shun, to shy away from.

    • Usage notes

    * The verb is not normally applied to the avoidance or shunning of a person or physical object, but rather, only to the avoidance or shunning of an idea, concept, or other intangible.

    Quotations

    {{timeline , 1500s=1599 , 1900s=1927 , 2010s=2014}} * *: What cannot be eschew’d must be embrac’d. * 1927 , *: He could afford no servants, and would admit but few visitors to his absolute solitude; eschewing close friendships and receiving his rare acquaintances in one of the three ground-floor rooms which he kept in order. * '>citation

    Derived terms

    * (l)

    Related terms

    * shy

    References

    obviate

    English

    Verb

    (obviat)
  • To bypass a requirement or make it unnecessary; to avoid a future problem or difficult situation.
    • They saved enough money for their purchase and obviated the need to borrow.
  • * 1826', Richard Reece, ''A Practical Dissertation on the Means of '''Obviating & Treating the Varieties of Costiveness , page 181:
    • A mild dose of a warm active aperient to obviate costiveness, or to produce two motions daily, is generally very beneficial.
  • * 2004 , David J. Anderson, Agile Management for Software Engineering , page 180:
    • Some change requests, rather than extend the scope, obviate some of the existing scope of a project.
  • * 2008 , William S. Kroger, Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis: In Medicine, Dentistry, and Psychology , page 163:
    • Thus, to obviate resistance, the discussion should be relevant to the patient?s problems.