elope
Americanverb (used without object)
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elopes,
present (3rd person singular)
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eloped,
past participle, past
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eloping
present participle
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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:
He is engaged to his longtime girlfriend with plans to elope.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2025
He and Clarkson married in a quiet 2013 ceremony in Tennessee after deciding to elope, then welcomed a daughter in 2014 and a son in 2016.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2025
In 1827, William came up with a plan to elope, telling Maria to meet him at the Red Barn on the Corder's farm, then run off to Ipswich to get the banns for their wedding.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2025
And they don’t plan to elope, Zephyr says.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 27, 2023
“I’m not going to elope, Mom. So gross.”
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
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
Eliza, overhearing the conversation between Mr. and Mrs. Shelby, on the night after the interview between Shelby and Haley, she cautiously and quietly takes her boy out of the bed, and elopes.
From A Review of Uncle Tom's Cabin or, An Essay on Slavery by A. Woodward
In 2017, the couple revealed that they had quietly eloped in an intimate ceremony.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
“Downton Abbey” welcomed Tom Branson, a working-class Irishman, into their home and family when the youngest Crawley daughter, Sybil, eloped with him.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
At 16, she eloped with her neighbour, Ganpatrao Bhosle, leading to a tumultuous marriage and separation.
From BBC ● Apr. 12, 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
Ella is absent because she has eloped, taking our cook, with her.
From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine
However, eloping couples could pop over the border and be married simply by stating their intent in front of witnesses - usually at the blacksmiths.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
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
No longer does the central couple simply betray a close friend by eloping, then take a honeymoon cruise.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2022
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
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.
