eschew
To deliberately avoid or reject something.
ExampleThe critic praises writers who eschew sentimentality in favor of precision.
ExampleThe scientist eschewed easy explanations until more evidence appeared.
Usage Scenarios
Style or criticism
Use eschew when an author avoids a style that others might use.
ExampleThe historian eschews dramatic language and presents the evidence plainly.
Principled refusal
Use it when a person rejects an attractive option because it conflicts with a standard.
ExampleThe reformer eschewed compromise that would weaken the central policy.
Usage Guide
Use eschew when a GRE sentence emphasizes intentional avoidance. The subject is not merely failing to do something; the subject is choosing not to use, accept, or rely on it.
Strong chunks include eschew tradition, eschew sentimentality, eschew publicity, and eschew easy answers. The object is usually a habit, style, temptation, or approach.
Do not use eschew for accidental absence. If a writer eschews ornament, the writer deliberately avoids decoration as a stylistic choice.
Word Forms & Word Building
Eschew is a formal verb best learned through phrase building because its root is not very useful for modern learners.
Eschewal is a rare noun formed with the suffix -al, meaning the act of deliberately avoiding something.
Build GRE chunks around deliberate avoidance: eschew sentimentality, eschew convention, eschew publicity, eschew easy answers.
Meaning Boundaries
Eschew vs avoid
Avoid is broad. Eschew is more formal and suggests deliberate rejection, often for a reason or principle.
Eschew vs dislike
Dislike is a feeling. Eschew is an action: the person avoids or rejects the thing in practice.
Register
Eschew is formal and common in GRE prose about style, ethics, methods, and intellectual choices.
Memory Tricks
Think choose to avoid. Eschew includes intention, not accident.
Pair it with sentimentality and convention because GRE passages often discuss style or intellectual discipline.
Look for clues like avoid, reject, shun, refuse, or deliberately not use.
Common Traps
Do not use eschew when something is unavailable; the word requires choice.
Do not follow eschew with from. It takes a direct object: eschew sentimentality.
Do not confuse eschew with chew; the GRE meaning is avoid or reject.