runaway
Americannoun
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runaways
plural
adjective
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having run away; escaped; fugitive.
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(of a horse or other animal) having escaped from the control of the rider or driver.
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pertaining to or accomplished by running away or eloping.
a runaway marriage.
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easily won, as a contest.
a runaway victory at the polls.
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unchecked; rampant.
runaway prices.
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Informal. deserting or revolting against one's group, duties, expected conduct, or the like, especially to establish or join a rival group, change one's life drastically, etc..
The runaway delegates nominated their own candidate.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of runaway
First recorded in 1505–15; noun, adj. use of verb phrase run away
Explanation
A runaway is a person — often a child or teenager — who leaves home. A runaway is usually unhappy at home, and most runaways have families that are desperate to find them. A kid who grabs some snacks and hides out all night in his neighbor's tree house is one kind of runaway — a more serious runaway is a teenager who hitchhikes to a city and lives on the street or in a shelter. You can also use the word as an adjective to mean "out of control," like a runaway car rolling down a hill with no driver, or a movie that's a runaway success, making more money than anyone thought possible.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Druckenmiller said there was no dysfunction in the market that would warrant such a move and that high inflation and runaway federal debt were among the forces driving up yields.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
When “It Ends” premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March 2025, it was not exactly the runaway darling of the year’s programming.
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026
He was seen as largely responsible for China's "soft landing" -- reducing inflation without causing a recession -- after it experienced runaway growth following Deng's renewed push to open up in the 1990s.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
“It’s wonderful to have a company that’s definitely making an effort to film again in Los Angeles. We’ve had so much runaway production.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
“So do the people at the museum. What more of a discovery do you think that you, Claudia Kincaid, girl runaway, can make? A tape recording of Michelangelo saying, ‘I did it?’
From "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" by E.L. Konigsburg
She also had a stuffed kitten named John Grady Cole, the hero’s name in McCarthy’s “The Border Trilogy,” which follows three runaways who have a stolen Colt revolver.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2024
The runaways were safely shepherded back to their owner.
From BBC ● Dec. 22, 2023
For years after cousins Elsie Eldora Luscier and Carlotta Maria Sanchez disappeared from the Quinault Indian Reservation in August 1979, authorities thought they were runaways.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 8, 2023
Police said the boys were runaways from a residential care facility in San Dimas, which is about 46 miles east of Santa Monica.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 8, 2023
Some runaways lingered; if they contributed, they could stay as long as they liked.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
