take the easy way out

verb

To cut corners; to follow the path of least resistance; to take shortcuts to avoid pain or having to struggle to achieve a desired result; to end or avoid a difficult situation in an easy or simple way that is not the best or most sensible or honorable solution.

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Meanings

verbtake the easy way out (third-person singular simple present takes the easy way out, present participle taking the easy way out, simple past took the easy way out, past participle taken the easy way out)

present singular third person takes the easy way out · participle present taking the easy way out · past took the easy way out · participle past taken the easy way out

  1. To cut corners; to follow the path of least resistance; to take shortcuts to avoid pain or having to struggle to achieve a desired result; to end or avoid a difficult situation in an easy or simple way that is not the best or most sensible or honorable solution.

    I wish I was a tradesman / Learnin' from some beat down old layman / […] Wanna sweat like hell, throw a hammer down / And know the old feelin' of a five o'clock smile / And know I didn't take no easy way out

    2023, Bryan Zachary Lane, “Tradesman”, in Bryan Zach, performed by Bryan Zach, Warner Records, →OCLC

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
cut corners
Cite this entry
APA

take the easy way out. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20the%20easy%20way%20out

MLA

“take the easy way out.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20the%20easy%20way%20out. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “take the easy way out,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20the%20easy%20way%20out.

Source: take the easy way out on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.