runaway

American  

[ruhn-uh-wey] / ˈrʌn əˌweɪ /

noun

runaways plural

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.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• runaways
  plural

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

Runaway profits and sky-high valuations for microchip companies have fuelled worker demands over pay packages in South Korea, raising the question: who profits from the artificial intelligence boom?

From Barron's • May 28, 2026

Runaway gains by tech firms in the early days of the internet helped draw pensions, endowments and other deep-pocketed investors to private markets.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 2, 2026

Runaway fires are rare, according to studies of federal agencies and surveys of community burn groups.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 14, 2023

Even more recent attractions take guests back to the classics — for instance, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is designed to transport riders into vintage-style Mickey Mouse cartoons.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 19, 2023

Runaway, lover, wife, waitress, gallery manager, nanny, and a few- more in between.

From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins

Related Words

• rampant
• unbridled
• unchecked
• uncontrolled
• unrestrained