elope

American  

[ih-lohp] / ɪˈloʊp /

verb (used without object)

• elopes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• eloped,
  past participle,  past
• eloping
  present participle

1. 1. to run off secretly to be married, usually without the consent or knowledge of one's parents or family.

   2. to get married in a small ceremony with few or no guests and often without a reception.

      After the stress of planning my first wedding, I decided that this time I'd just elope.

2. to run away with a lover.

3. 1. to leave without permission or notification; escape.

      At age 21, the apprentice eloped from his master.

   2. (of a patient or person in care) to leave a hospital, care facility, or safe area independently without notifying anyone.

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elope British  

/ ɪˈləʊp /

verb

1. (intr) to run away secretly with a lover, esp in order to marry

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• elopement
  noun
• eloper
  noun
• uneloped
  adjective
• uneloping
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• eloping
  present
• eloped
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• elope
  simple
• elopes
  simple
• have eloped
  perfect
• has eloped
  perfect
• am eloping
  progressive
• are eloping
  progressive
• is eloping
  progressive
• have been eloping
  perfect progressive
• has been eloping
  perfect progressive

Past

• eloped
  simple
• had eloped
  perfect
• was eloping
  progressive
• were eloping
  progressive
• had been eloping
  perfect progressive

Future

• will elope
  simple
• will have eloped
  perfect
• will be eloping
  progressive
• will have been eloping
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of elope

First recorded in 1590–1600; Middle English alopen (unrecorded) “to run away” (whence Anglo-French aloper ); see a- ³ ( def. ), lope ( def. )

Explanation

When you elope, you run away with the person you love. Usually, you elope to get married without anyone knowing in advance. The word elope probably originated with the Middle Dutch word lopen, meaning "run away." Couples who elope typically don't seek anyone's permission before running off to get married, not even their parents. Often, that's the whole point of wanting to elope: you can avoid dealing with anyone who might opt to "speak now" instead "holding their peace."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

elope elopes eloped eloping

For a while, Pratt worked to monetize the negative attention by calling the paparazzi on himself and Montag, who also agreed to elope in order to keep themselves on “The Hills.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 27, 2026

He is engaged to his longtime girlfriend with plans to elope.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2025

And they don’t plan to elope, Zephyr says.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 27, 2023

For whatever reason, your stepsister chose to elope.

From Slate ● Mar. 24, 2023

It was going to make its usual quick stop at 8:17, and the runaway couple were going to elope on it.

From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck

A pilot woos a woman doubling for an heiress, then elopes with the heiress.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2020

“By Women Possessed” opens in the days before O’Neill elopes with Carlotta.

From New York Times ● Nov. 27, 2016

Bennett's most famous novel The Old Wives' Tale is about two sisters one of whom elopes to a scandalous life in France and the other who stays at home running the family draper's shop.

From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2014

Over 189 pages, Irene Iddesleigh tells the story of a young Canterbury lady who marries an older man, realizes she doesn’t love him, and then elopes to America with her tutor.

From Slate ● Jan. 23, 2013

Her story goes thus: a maiden elopes with a priest, her lover, to Rome, dons man's dress, becomes a doctor, a cardinal, and at last a Pope.

From Women of the Teutonic Nations Woman: In all ages and in all countries Vol. 8 (of 10) by Hermann Schoenfeld

At the age of 15, she rejected her concert career, cut off her father completely, enrolled for a psychology degree at the University of California and eloped with a fellow student, named George Born.

From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2026

In 1937 Jessica eloped to Europe with her second cousin Esmond Romilly—their ill-starred plan was to head to Spain to report on the civil war there.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026

The new brides revealed earlier this month that they eloped in October after being engaged for a year.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2024

While at Duke, Driesell eloped with Joyce and got married in December 1952.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 17, 2024

“She escaped,” Mami said, which meant that Gloria had eloped.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago

In one trajectory, Helen makes the virtuous decision to avoid eloping with the impatient Jed; she is rewarded for her sacrifice with two decades of spinsterhood—in this universe, a tragic outcome.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025

Sticks and stones aren't enough to thwart biological attraction, but sometimes those are the only tools available to pastoralists trying to prevent wildlife from eloping with their livestock.

From Science Daily ● May 29, 2024

Christian Hecq and Véronique Vella are exuberantly, wackily brilliant as the shallow Mr. and Mrs. Peachum, who set out to take down the notorious criminal Macheath for eloping with their daughter Polly.

From New York Times ● Jul. 6, 2023

A survey conducted by a diamond company a few months before the pandemic found that more than 90% of millennials said they would consider eloping.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2023

But whereas I thought the big news today was Grandpa’s eloping, the first thing Papa said was something about the average life span in America being forty-seven years.

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns

Related Words

• run off