The Greek verb apotrepō means to turn away, to avoid, to shun, to cause to turn away. In the active voice it means to turn someone away; the middle voice means to turn oneself away from something — to deliberately shun or avoid.
Apotrepō appears once in the NT: 2 Timothy 3:5, Paul describes godless people of the last days who have 'a form of godliness but deny its power.' His command: 'Have nothing to do with such people' (toutous apotrepou). The word is decisive: active avoidance of religious pretense that lacks genuine spiritual power. This is not isolationism but discernment — the distinction between true and false faith matters for spiritual formation. Those who maintain the outer shell of Christianity while denying transformation are dangerous precisely because they are harder to identify than open unbelievers. Paul's command protects the community from corruption by appearance without substance.