runaway

[ruhn-uh-wey]

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.

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of runaway¹

First recorded in 1505–15; noun, adj. use of verb phrase run away

Example Sentences

“When something goes wrong, you can have a runaway fire. They did a great job at getting it under control. But do we really want antiquated dirty energy in our communities?”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

In a scenario straight out of Dashiell Hammett’s early stories, a detective agency operative named Hicks McTaggart gets an assignment to chase down the runaway heiress to a major cheese fortune.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The runaway world number one, has had another outstanding year, with two more major titles - the US PGA and Open Championship - among his six victories.

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Canada are closest to runaway world number ones England in the rankings.

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The Netflix show, about a teenage boy arrested for the murder of a classmate, became a runaway hit and national talking point earlier this year.

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Related Words

• rampant 
• unbridled 
• unchecked 
• uncontrolled 
• unrestrained