When I want to go outside, there are times I wish to avoid running into certain people such as friends or colleagues in order to have some private moments. In such cases, I frequently find myself finding routes different from the ones mainly used by these people, just to avoid being seen.
Is there an English word to describe this kind of action?
I sometimes take a different route so as to steer clear of friends or colleagues when I want a private moment.
macmillandictionary.com
You are taking evasive action, so as to evade (and avoid) those people.
The word avoid pretty much sums it up as well as possible. If you were to run into your "friend", they may ask, "Hey, are you avoiding me?". You could also use dodge, although this feels a little more dynamic. It might be better suited for when you see your friend coming, and you slip into an alley to avoid being seen. You could also use duck in the same manner as dodge. Avoid would be the better choice for premeditated evasion.
dodge - avoid (someone or something) by a sudden quick movement
duck - evade or avoid (an unwelcome duty or undertaking)
avoid - contrive not to meet (someone)
If you are being somewhat secretive about your movements, you are being furtive.
Inconspicuous; inconspicuously
To travel inconspicuously means to go unnoticed, to not be seen, to not be conspicuous, to not stand out or to not be prominent.
e.g.
The police waited outside for the suspect unaware that he inconspicuously escaped behind them.
I don't believe there is a verb that describes the OP's request: a reluctance to casually meet (or be seen by) friends in public places.
A person who prefers not to exchange pleasantries with strangers might be called unsociable, an introvert, or a deep thinker; but someone who cannot even bring themself to say “Hello” to a colleague or a friend they happen to meet in the street, is a person who wants to be alone. A word that describes the person, but not the action, is a loner.
Someone who deliberately avoids public places where he or she might bump into someone they know is a person who doesn't want to be recognized, who wishes nothing else than to be a faceless person in a crowd.
If this reluctance to speak to people is a habit than I might call that person ungregarious, but if it happens only occasionally then the person probably just needs to have some time alone
In such a case, you would be going out incognito.
I would say you are going out surreptitiously.
A surreptitious action is done secretly.
He made a surreptitious entrance to the club through the little door in the brick wall.
I think sneak works really well here. It has less of the negative connotation implied by other suggestions like skulk, creep, and furtive.
Example usage:
I snuck/sneaked out for a minute to get a breath of fresh air.
I am just going to sneak out for a minute to gather my thoughts.
She likes her co-workers, but she enjoys sneaking out alone on occasion.
From Wiktionary:
sneak (verb):
To come or go while trying to avoid detection, as a person who does not wish to be seen.
To shun may be used to to refer to that action:
- (tr) to avoid deliberately; keep away from. (Collins)
If I take your question as 'the act of seeking solitude', as a verb, there are only two I can think of, both uncommon.
'Sequester' in the sense of setting aside someone or something apart from normal activity, or 'cloister', which describes people retreating from society(usually for religious reasons).
You might say 'She's currently sequestered from all hobbies until she gets her debt paid down' or 'He's cloistered away at Walden Pond working on his book.'
Either would sound a bit odd in normal speech.
Australian Aboriginal culture has the idea of 'walkabout', which is a specific spiritual practice, but which is sometimes generalized to mean the need to walk around alone and think about things.
If you want to connote the fact that you are trying to avoid being seen while you are going out, you could use the phrase slip out, as in "I slipped out" or "I slipped out of the building".
From the Free Dictionary’s definition for slip out:
[for someone] to exit quietly without bothering anyone.
(of something) to sneak out of a place unnoticed.
verb (used with object), dodged, dodging.
- to elude or evade by a sudden shift of position or by strategy:
Used in a sentence:
enisle
The Oxford Dictionaries define enisle as:
Isolate on or as if on an island. It supplies this example:
"in the sea of life enisled, we mortal millions live alone"
In the context of the question at hand, the subject is purposefully isolating him/herself from social contact for private time. The beauty of enisle is the word picture it paints of isolation as if on an island, although this isolation can be surrounded by activity. Albeit, this word is very seldom used in casual conversation.
In the context, here is my example:
"I enisle myself from colleagues, to buy time for reflection."
sequester
"Social sequestration is my gateway to contemplation."
Note: Others had already offered this before I made my initial post, so I will defer to them. However, sequester is most often used in the legal sense of separating jurors from outside contact. Hence, the connotation is of an outside authority imposing the separation.
p.s. Please excuse my earlier terse response. I'm still learning proper list etiquette.
You are trying to be discreet:
: not likely to be seen or noticed by many people
Merriam-Webster
When you do something under cover, it is done out of public view. Very often it is used in regards to investigatory work to describe an agent of law, such as "undercover officers." The expression is also commonly used to describe daylight, or lack of it, as in "under cover of darkness," or "under cover of nightfall."
e.g.
Inspector Clouseau went undercover to avoid being recognized.
On certain days, I take an odd route home to protect my privacy.
OR
in order to have some time to myself.
I would use the word skulk. You are skulking about to avoid being seen.
: to move or hide in a secret way especially because you are planning to do something bad from the link you posted
: to move in a stealthy or furtive manner <skulked into her sister's room> this word doesn't fit what the OP is describing.
How about stealth?
From Dictionary.com:
Noun
- Secret, clandestine, or surreptitious procedure.
- A furtive departure or entrance.
How about hiding from, as in:
I am hiding from my friends so that I can have some time to myself.
Hide from the Free Dictionary:
To keep oneself out of sight or notice.
To creep, creeping around, or being creepy...
Sentence: "I saw some guy creeping around the water tower the other night."
...just keep it on the down low cause nobody is supposed to know... LOL
