elopement
Americannoun
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an act or instance of running off secretly, especially to be married.
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an act or instance of a patient or person in care leaving a hospital, care facility, or safe area independently without notifying anyone.
Nursing homes need strategies to cope with elopement.
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a small wedding ceremony with few or no guests and often without a reception.
The couple had a quiet elopement in Dublin with only their parents and an officiant present.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of elopement
First recorded in 1600–10; elope ( def. ) + -ment ( def. )
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.
Elopement adventure photography was born in earnest 10 years ago, pioneered by Maddie Mae, a wedding photographer who’d grown disillusioned with traditional weddings.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2025
Here are some of my favorite things to do and places to eat in the Elopement Capital of the Midwest.
From Salon • Sep. 24, 2022
Q. Elopement: My fiancée and I have always wanted a small wedding and have planned for an elopement out of state with only three guests.
From Slate • Aug. 22, 2016
It happens that Lundigan is talking about another woman, but the attributes fit Francis, who was only 20 during the Elopement shoot.
From Time • Jan. 8, 2011
Elopement was a means of finding some personal privacy.
From Highways in Hiding by Smith, George Oliver
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.
