ward off

1. 1.

   prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening

   “Let's avoid a confrontation”

   “head off a confrontation”

   “avert a strike”

   Synonymsdebarforefendforfendobviatedeflectaverthead offstave offfend offavoid

   Broaderprevent
2. 2.

   avert, turn away, or repel

   “Ward off danger”

   Broaderdefend

Questions about ward off

What does ward off mean?

ward off means "prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

What is another word for ward off?

Close synonyms include debar, forefend, forfend, obviate, deflect. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is ward off a common word?

ward off is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.