Runaway: A Person Fleeing, and a Success Nobody Can Catch
A runaway is someone who has fled. As an adjective it describes anything out of control, including inflation and a huge success.
A runaway is a person or animal that has fled. As an adjective it means out of control, and English applies it in two opposite directions: a *runaway train* is a disaster and a *runaway success* is a triumph. Both share the idea of something moving faster than anyone can stop.
- Someone who has fled. *A teenage runaway.*
- Out of control. *A runaway lorry.*
- Overwhelming. *A runaway victory.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | runaway | A runaway from home. |
| Plural | runaways | Two runaways. |
| Adjective | runaway | Runaway inflation. |
| Verb phrase | run away | They ran away. |
| Related | fugitive | A wanted fugitive. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The charity works with young runaways.The person.
- It was a runaway success.Far beyond expectations.
- Runaway climate change is the central fear.Meaning self-reinforcing and unstoppable.
Out-of-control compounds
- Runaway — moving faster than it can be stopped
- Rogue — behaving unpredictably outside control
- Feedback loop — a process that reinforces itself
- Spiral — a process accelerating in one direction
- Tipping point — where change becomes self-sustaining
A compound of the phrasal verb *run away*, recorded as a noun from the sixteenth century. English regularly turns phrasal verbs into nouns this way.
Runaway or run away?
One word for the noun and the adjective, two for the verb: the runaway ran away.
What is runaway inflation?
Inflation that accelerates because expectations of rising prices themselves push prices up. It is also called a wage-price spiral.