runaway

American  

[ruhn-uh-wey] / ˈrʌn əˌweɪ /

noun

1. a person who runs away; fugitive; deserter.

2. a horse or team that has broken away from control.

3. the act of running away.

4. a decisive or easy victory.

5. a young person, especially a teenager, who has run away from home.

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adjective

1. having run away; escaped; fugitive.

2. (of a horse or other animal) having escaped from the control of the rider or driver.

3. pertaining to or accomplished by running away or eloping.

   a runaway marriage.

4. easily won, as a contest.

   a runaway victory at the polls.

   Synonyms:

   complete, absolute

5. unchecked; rampant.

   runaway prices.

6. 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.

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

Hamilton's result, combined with a difficult race for Mercedes' George Russell, moved the 41-year-old up to second in the championship, 66 points behind runaway leader Kimi Antonelli and two ahead of his former Mercedes team-mate.

From BBC • Jun. 7, 2026

Suddenly, a film that was just fine could be deemed a runaway, billion-dollar success.

From Salon • Jun. 6, 2026

However, with eurozone inflation expected to remain above target into next year, eyes now turn to how forceful the ECB’s communication next week will be over its concerns of runaway price growth.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 2, 2026

“Lessons have not been learned,” the ACS Omega study said, referring specifically to styrene-related runaway incidents.

From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2026

Was she out of bondage or in its web: how to describe the status of a runaway?

From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead

Related Words

• rampant
• unbridled
• unchecked
• uncontrolled
• unrestrained