What does detour mean?
Word: Detour
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Detour means a longer way round that you take to avoid something in your path, such as a closed road, or to visit a place along the way.
How do you spell detour?
Syllables: de - tour
Tricky part: The ending is spelt -our, not -oor or -ure; detoor and deture are common slips.
Watch out for: detoor, deture
Memory tip: A detour often adds four extra kilometres, and four ends with the same three letters as detour.
Detour in a sentence
Example 1: Papa took a detour through the market so that we could pick up fresh bread.
Example 2: Heavy rain had flooded the main road, so the cyclists made a detour along the canal.
Example 3: Our trip to Mysuru included a short detour to see the Brindavan Gardens.
Fun Fact
Detour was borrowed from French, where it comes from a verb meaning 'to turn aside'.
Practise the CREST Way
Sound Check
In which word is 'our' pronounced differently?
a) flour
b) sour
c) detour
d) devour
Show answer
c) detour. Flour, sour and devour all have the ow of cow; detour has a different vowel there.
Word Champ
Choose the correct word for the blank:
When the bridge was shut for repairs, our school bus took a long ___ through three villages and reached school an hour late.
a) detour
b) junction
c) flyover
d) shortcut
Show answer
a) detour. The bus went a longer way round and lost an hour, which is exactly what this word describes.
Spellacadabra
Choose the correct option to make a meaningful word:
d__tour
a) ea
b) e
c) i
d) ee
Show answer
b) e. A single e opens the word, even though it is said long.
Word Puzzle
Match each word with its opposite:
1. ancient 2. detour 3. generous a. stingy b. modern c. direct route
a) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b
b) 1-a, 2-b, 3-c
c) 1-a, 2-c, 3-b
d) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a
Show answer
d) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a. Ancient is the opposite of modern, a detour is the opposite of a direct route, and a generous person is the opposite of a stingy one.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Jack says, "We made a detour to see the lake." What did his family do?
a) missed the lake completely
b) went out of their way to visit the lake
c) drove straight home without stopping
d) stayed at home all day
Show answer
b) went out of their way to visit the lake
2. Which road sign would send drivers on a detour?
a) Petrol station 2 km
b) Speed limit 60
c) Road closed ahead
d) School ahead, go slow
Show answer
c) Road closed ahead
