RAN AWAY Synonyms: 88 Similar and Opposite Words

ran away

verb

past tense of run away

as in escaped

to get free from a dangerous or confining situation ran away from an unhappy marriage

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in retreated

to hasten away from something dangerous or frightening the child runs away from large dogs

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of ran away That’s when the witness said Anthony pulled out a knife, stabbed Metcalf once, then ran away. — Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, Forbes.com, 12 June 2026 Officers made contact with the man, who then ran away and into the Fox River. — Elyssa Kaufman, CBS News, 27 June 2026 In the meetup, the buyer was examining the cards, pretended to pay, sprayed the seller with pepper spray and then ran away with the cards. — Jazmin Alvarado, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2026 Gunfire rang out into the vehicle until both men eventually ran away in opposite directions. — Angel Saunders, PEOPLE, 30 June 2026 Kim shot his friend six times in front of his friend’s girlfriend in the parking lot of a CVS in Westminster, prosecutors say, and then ran away. — Sean Emery, Oc Register, 12 June 2026 There are five Broderick siblings, but their eldest brother and sister ran away from the cult, and their mother was kicked out after medication was found among her belongings. — Rob Picheta, CNN Money, 28 May 2026 Bayer and Diaconis — who as a teenager ran away from home to apprentice with a magician specializing in card tricks, before becoming a renowned mathematician — didn’t just prove the existence of a precise cutoff in a real-world system. — John Pavlus, Quanta Magazine, 17 June 2026 Witnesses told Chicago police that gunmen ran inside a Dunning neighborhood three-flat where two young men were found shot to death Thursday and then ran away from the block that sits at the foot of the Irving Park Cemetery. — Tess Kenny, Chicago Tribune, 26 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for ran away

Verb

William Carney, a man who escaped slavery to become a Union soldier in the Civil War and who was awarded the Medal of Honor for protecting the American flag from touching the ground during battle.

— Diego Mendoza, CNN Money, 4 July 2026
Born enslaved in Maryland, Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) escaped to the North and emerged as the nation’s leading abolitionist and major literary political figure of his time.

— Melia Patria, ABC News, 4 July 2026

Definition of escaped

Verb

Meghan and Harry retreated from the royal spotlight in 2020, sparking global controversy and dividing opinion in Britain.

— Jennifer Hassan, USA Today, 6 July 2026
McBreairty then retreated into the riverbed, and SWAT officers were called in to assist with the search, as were members of the Police Department’s Emergency Negotiation Team.

— Caleb Lunetta, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 July 2026

Definition of retreated

Verb

In March 2024, Rice was involved in a high-speed multi-vehicle crash in Dallas, then fled the scene.

— Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 3 July 2026
The number of animals in his care has multiplied since the outbreak of the latest Israel-Hezbollah war, as hundreds of thousands of southern Lebanon residents fled and were unable to take their pets or farm animals.

— ABC News, ABC News, 3 July 2026

Definition of fled

Verb

Against Seattle, the Storm bolted to a 21-13 lead after one quarter and held firm from there.

— Christopher Harris, CBS News, 1 July 2026
Oregon and Washington soon bolted, also for the Big Ten, and eventually Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah joined the Big 12, and Cal and Stanford joined the ACC.

— Sam Khan Jr, New York Times, 1 July 2026

Definition of bolted

Verb

Villaraigosa, who led the city from 2005-13 and recently ran for governor, argued that this is not the right time to make even that change.

— Melissa Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 4 July 2026
The Dred Scott decision is said to have inspired Lincoln to speak out forcefully against slavery, run for president, and later lead the nation through a bloody Civil War.

— ABC News, ABC News, 3 July 2026

Definition of ran

Verb

The crew and the two witnesses said one of the three men got out with a dog and then moved aggressively towards the crew while shouting racial slurs targeted at the photographer.

— Jeramie Bizzle, CBS News, 2 July 2026
Bungie quickly got out a few nerfs to items or bugs that were trivializing every boss encounter in the game, but if there is one outlier overpowered meta, that’s just going to stay.

— Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026

Definition of got out

Browse Nearby Words

ran amok

ran away

ran by

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“Ran away.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ran%20away. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of ran away

verb

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