escapade
Americannoun
-
a wild or exciting adventure, esp one that is mischievous or unlawful; scrape
-
any lighthearted or carefree episode; prank; romp
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of escapade
1645–55; < French < Spanish escapada, equivalent to escap ( ar ) to escape + -ada -ade 1
Explanation
An escapade is an adventure, tinged with a hint of danger. A road trip could be an escapade, or a few weeks making a living as a professional gambler, or posing as your twin sister and taking a test for her in math. You'll notice the similarities between the words escapade and escape. Usually an escapade involves some form of escape. If you cut class and spend the day at the beach, that's an escapade. If you cut class to watch former figure-skating greats boogying to Broadway tunes on ice, that's an escapade at the Ice Capades.
Vocabulary lists containing escapade
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
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The Boy on the Wooden Box
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The Egypt Game
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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:
A group of killer whales have been documented blowing a sunfish to bits in an unusual underwater escapade offering never-before-seen insights into orca behaviour, according to research released Thursday.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
The dates of this escapade blow up the excuse Platner has used to wipe away his long history of obnoxious behavior: that all that bad stuff belonged to a prior period of “dark” feelings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026
"It was a childish escapade that got out of hand very quickly with tragic consequences," he said.
From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026
Their ensuing escapade will surely reach doom levels.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2025
“It’s a good thing she doesn’t know about your escapade last night,” said Noor, giving him a measured look.
From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai
OK, so all of that’s totally true, but “Kevin” is mostly a silly, raunchy animated series with a star-studded comedy cast about talking animals and their escapades in a life generally free of human owners.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 20, 2026
But the tightrope coach Brendon McCullum and captain Harry Brook are walking is so precarious after England's Ashes defeat and Brook's Wellington escapades, a defeat here may have sent them tumbling to new depths.
From BBC ● Feb. 8, 2026
The warhorse Wawrinka departed for a medical timeout after the third set as his Melbourne escapades caught up with him.
From Barron's ● Jan. 24, 2026
Skipton’s devious ruses and desperate escapades prove diverting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026
“You have to be rich to waste time going on escapades at night instead of catching up on precious sleep.”
From "The Bridge Home" by Padma Venkatraman
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.
