Translation guide
Ways to express avoiding a topic, question, or responsibility in Japanese, ranging from indirect phrasing to direct refusal.
The speaker avoids answering directly, often by changing the subject or giving a vague reply.
Literally 'to divert the conversation'. A common, natural way to describe evading a topic.
彼はいつも話をそらす。
He always dodges the topic.
その質問には答えず、話をそらした。
Without answering that question, he changed the subject.
To dodge a question or evade giving a clear answer, often with a sense of being evasive or slippery.
彼は質問をはぐらかした。
He dodged the question.
はぐらかさないで、ちゃんと答えてください。
Don't be evasive; please answer properly.
To gloss over, deceive, or cover up. Used when someone avoids the truth or fudges an answer.
彼は笑ってごまかした。
He laughed it off to evade the issue.
ミスをごまかそうとした。
He tried to cover up his mistake.
To speak ambiguously or beat around the bush, literally 'to muddy one's words'.
彼は言葉を濁して、はっきり言わなかった。
He beat around the bush and didn't say it clearly.
To evade skillfully and persistently, often with a slippery or non-committal attitude. Conveys a sense of dodging repeatedly.
彼はのらりくらりとかわして、核心に触れなかった。
He evaded skillfully and never touched on the core issue.
The speaker shirks an obligation or escapes a situation.
To escape from or avoid something undesirable, such as responsibility, danger, or a situation.
責任を逃れようとした。
He tried to evade responsibility.
現実から逃れることはできない。
You can't escape from reality.
To avoid or evade, often used in formal contexts like risk avoidance or duty evasion.
彼は兵役を回避した。
He evaded military service.
To run away or flee; can be used metaphorically for evading a situation.
To slip through or evade, often implying sneaking past a barrier or obligation.
Specifically refers to illegally avoiding taxes.
The standard term for tax evasion.
彼は脱税で逮捕された。
He was arrested for tax evasion.
Verb form: to evade taxes.
彼は長年脱税していた。
He had been evading taxes for years.
はぐらかす focuses on dodging a question or giving an evasive answer, while ごまかす implies deception or covering up the truth. ごまかす can also mean to cheat or falsify.
The English word 'evasion' is often translated as 回避 (kaihi) in formal contexts, but in everyday conversation, more specific phrases like 話をそらす or はぐらかす are more natural. Using 回避 for casual dodging can sound overly stiff.
We took a detour to avoid danger.
彼はいつも面倒なことから逃げる。
He always runs away from troublesome things.
彼は検問をすり抜けた。
He slipped through the checkpoint.