: a deviation from a direct course or the usual procedure
especially
: a roundabout way temporarily replacing part of a route
detoured; detouring; detours
: to proceed by a detour
detour around road construction
1
: to send by a circuitous route
detour traffic around an accident
2
: to avoid by going around : bypass
detour an accident site
Synonyms
Examples of detour in a Sentence
Noun
After a number of unexpected detours, we finally arrived at our destination.
The little restaurant is worth a detour.
We had to make a detour around the heaviest traffic.
We took a detour from the main streets.
The road is closed ahead, so traffic will have to follow the detour.
Verb
We detoured around the heaviest traffic.
A police officer was detouring traffic around the scene of the accident.
Traffic will be detoured to 72nd Street.
Recent Examples on the Web
Evan Perez, CNN, 24 Oct. 2024
And after a rare blue-state detour in Coachella, California, on Sunday, Republican nominee former President Donald Trump will also return to battleground states in the coming days.
—Rachel Barber, USA TODAY, 14 Oct. 2024
Rey Covarrubias Jr., The Arizona Republic, 24 July 2024
The transcript of the audio is wide-ranging and bizarre, with Sterling detouring at one point to talk about the treatment of Black Jews in Israel to justify his own views on race.
—Hanif Abdurraqib, The New Yorker, 3 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for detour 
Noun
The issue first arose at an October 11 hearing in Fort Worth, where O’Connor worked through the routine details of the plea deal before taking a sharp detour to ask why the Justice Department included DEI considerations in choosing a monitor.
—Evan Perez, CNN, 24 Oct. 2024
And after a rare blue-state detour in Coachella, California, on Sunday, Republican nominee former President Donald Trump will also return to battleground states in the coming days.
—Rachel Barber, USA TODAY, 14 Oct. 2024
Verb
Southbound traffic on Mill Avenue will be detoured at Rio Salado Parkway.
—Rey Covarrubias Jr., The Arizona Republic, 24 July 2024
The transcript of the audio is wide-ranging and bizarre, with Sterling detouring at one point to talk about the treatment of Black Jews in Israel to justify his own views on race.
—Hanif Abdurraqib, The New Yorker, 3 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for detour
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'detour.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near detour
Cite this Entry
“Detour.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/detour. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
detour
1 of 2 noun
de·tour
ˈdē-ˌtu̇(ə)r 
also di-ˈtu̇(ə)r
: a departure from a direct course or the usual procedure
especially
: a roundabout way temporarily replacing a regular route
detour
2 of 2 verb
: to send or proceed by a detour
detour traffic around an accident
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