The phrase "avoid the thought" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when discussing the act of deliberately not thinking about something, often to prevent negative feelings or distractions.
Example: "In order to stay focused on my work, I try to avoid the thought of any upcoming deadlines."
Alternatives: "dismiss the idea" or "steer clear of the notion".
But it's hard to avoid the thought that there is something in the anti-elitist's worry.
He could no longer avoid the thought that a similar fate awaited him.
It is hard to avoid the thought that Denny only ever really got moving in her songs, with their leaves and streams and riverine motion.
But, however complicit the actresses must have been, it's hard to avoid the thought that a woman would have made this film differently.
"I honestly don't want to think about it," he said politely, "because the more you think about it, the nearer the end is, and that's why I avoid the thought of it".
He looked up to the sky, his face rigid with emotion, and it was difficult to avoid the thought that he was saying a prayer to his late father, David, who died 18 years ago this week.
The American military had spent thirty years avoiding the thought of fighting a counter-insurgency, a subject that hadn't been part of the curriculum at West Point since the Vietnam era.
We have avoided the thought of bankruptcy out of the fear of losing our home, our equipment for our business, the damage it would do to our children's ability to get college loans.
The women who had traumatic experiences during the 2002 Gujarat communal riots and conflict had problems like reexperiencing the traumatic events, accompanied by symptoms of avoidance (staying away from reminders, avoiding the thoughts of the traumatic incident) and hyperarousal (felling restless, pounding of heart, breathlessness) as described in impact of event scale (Horowitz et al. 1979).
If you've never seen it before, watch, marvel and try not to avoid the nagging thought that its springy joys would surely be trampled by the macho gurnings of The Revenant in a modern-day awards race.
Our own affections welled up within us at the sight of those magnificent animals, but we could not avoid the reminiscent thought that it is far easier for a good man to love a good horse in the genial warmth of Madison Square Garden than in the dark barn on a Frozen February morning when the beast develops crupper reluctantly.
