elope
Americanverb (used without object)
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to run off secretly to be married, usually without the consent or knowledge of one's parents or family.
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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.
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to run away with a lover.
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to leave without permission or notification; escape.
At age 21, the apprentice eloped from his master.
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(of a patient or person in care) to leave a hospital, care facility, or safe area independently without notifying anyone.
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verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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elopesimple
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elopessimple
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have elopedperfect
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has elopedperfect
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am elopingprogressive
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are elopingprogressive
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is elopingprogressive
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have been elopingperfect progressive
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has been elopingperfect progressive
Past
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elopedsimple
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had elopedperfect
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was elopingprogressive
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were elopingprogressive
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had been elopingperfect progressive
Future
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."
Vocabulary lists containing elope
The Bridge Home
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The Fourteenth Goldfish
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5-letter words, List 2
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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:
But Harmony Elmy and Seán Mauremootoo wanted none of that, choosing to elope to a place that held "special" memories for them both.
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2025
He is engaged to his longtime girlfriend with plans to elope.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2025
I think the scene where she tells Chris that they gotta elope is a great scene.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2025
And they don’t plan to elope, Zephyr says.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 27, 2023
Mudgett was eighteen when he asked her to elope.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Carmelita elopes, cavorts with Lord Epping and tosses pies with her husband’s ex-fiancee.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2020
The household is upended when Guida elopes with Iorgos, sailing across the Atlantic.
From New York Times ● Dec. 19, 2019
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 Schoenfeld, Hermann
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
Then, when she was 18, Janet suddenly and unexpectedly eloped with doe-eyed soul singer James DeBarge.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2024
Lorrie met and eloped with Cash’s manger, Stu Carnall; gave birth to two children; and became primarily a stay-at-home mother.
From New York Times ● Jan. 11, 2024
He has gained tools to regulate his emotions, and his provider shared that in addition to gaining confidence, “he hasn’t eloped from school and can focus for longer periods of time.”
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 24, 2023
“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
I mean I figured everybody would be talking about me getting run over by the train instead of about them eloping.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
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.
