fugitive

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fu·gi·tive

(fyo͞o′jĭ-tĭv)

adj.

a. Running away or fleeing, as from the law.

b. Of or relating to fugitives: "My brother ... was on the fugitive squad, tracking draft dodgers" (James Carroll).

a. Lasting only a short time; fleeting: "[His] house and burial place ... should be visited by all who profess even a fugitive interest in political economy" (John Kenneth Galbraith).

b. Difficult to comprehend or retain; elusive: fugitive solutions to the problem.

c. Given to change or disappearance; perishable: fugitive beauty; fugitive tint.

d. Of temporary interest: "Apart from juvenilia and fugitive verses, his poetic legacy consists of only some seventy poems" (Daniel Hoffman).

3. Wandering or tending to wander; vagabond: "We also chanced upon fugitive monks, penniless pilgrims and tradesmen" (Jeanne Marie Laskas).

1. A person who flees, especially from a legal process, persecution, or danger.

2. Something fleeting or ephemeral.

[Middle English fugitif, from Old French, from Latin fugitīvus, from fugitus, past participle of fugere, to flee.]

fu′gi·tive·ly adv.

fu′gi·tive·ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

fugitive

(ˈfjuːdʒɪtɪv)

1. a person who flees

2. a thing that is elusive or fleeting

adj

3. fleeing, esp from arrest or pursuit

4. not permanent; fleeting; transient

5. moving or roving about

[C14: from Latin fugitīvus fleeing away, from fugere to take flight, run away]

ˈfugitively adv

ˈfugitiveness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

fu•gi•tive

(ˈfyu dʒɪ tɪv)

n.

1. a person who is fleeing from prosecution or intolerable circumstances.

adj.

2. having taken flight, or run away: a fugitive convict.

3. fleeting; transitory.

4. dealing with subjects of passing interest, as writings; ephemeral: fugitive essays.

5. wandering, roving, or vagabond.

[1350–1400; Middle English fugitif < Old French < Latin fugitīvus fleeing]

fu′gi•tive•ly, adv.

fu′gi•tive•ness, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	fugitive - someone who flees from an uncongenial situation; "fugitives from the sweatshops" fleer, runaway individual, mortal, person, somebody, someone, soul - a human being; "there was too much for one person to do"
	2.	fugitive - someone who is sought by law officers; someone trying to elude justice fugitive from justice absconder - a fugitive who runs away and hides to avoid arrest or prosecution criminal, crook, felon, malefactor, outlaw - someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime escapee - someone who escapes
Adj.	1.	fugitive - lasting for a markedly brief time; "a fleeting glance"; "fugitive hours"; "rapid momentaneous association of things that meet and pass"; "a momentary glimpse" fleeting, momentaneous, momentary short - primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration; "a short life"; "a short flight"; "a short holiday"; "a short story"; "only a few short months"

fugitive

noun

1. runaway, refugee, deserter, escapee, runagate (archaic) He was a fugitive from justice.

adjective

1. momentary, short, passing, brief, fleeing, temporary, fleeting, unstable, short-lived, transient, flitting, ephemeral, transitory, evanescent, fugacious, flying Love is as fugitive and insubstantial as smoke, yet we all pursue it.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

fugitive

adjective

1. Fleeing or having fled, as from home, confinement, captivity, or justice:

escaped, runaway.

2. Lasting or existing only for a short time:

ephemeral, evanescent, fleet, fleeting, fugacious, momentary, passing, short-lived, temporal, temporary, transient, transitory.

noun

One who flees, as from home, confinement, captivity, or justice:

escapee, refugee, runaway.

Translations

هارِب

uprchlík

flygtningflygtig

Flüchtling flüchtig

φυγάς φευγαλέος φυγάδας

fugitivo

karkulainenpakolainen

fugitif fugitive

menekülő

flóttamaîur

evaso fuggitivo latitante

fugitivus

bėglys

bēglis

vluchteling vluchtelingevoortvluchtigvoortvluchtige

diffuserømling

uciekinier zbieg

беглец беглый беглянка

begunacbegunicabegunka

kaçak

逃亡者

fugitive

[ˈfjuːdʒɪtɪv]

A. ADJ

1. → fugitivo

2. (liter) (= fleeting) → efímero, pasajero

B. N → fugitivo/a m/f; (= refugee) → refugiado/a m/f
fugitive from justice → prófugo/a m/f (de la justicia)

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

fugitive

[ˈfjuːdʒɪtɪv] n → fugitif/ive m/f
a fugitive from justice → un fugitif recherché(e) par la justice

fugitive

n (= runaway) → Flüchtling m (→ from vor +dat); he is a fugitive from justice → er ist auf der Flucht vor der Justiz

adj

(= escaping) → flüchtig; fugitive vehicle → Fluchtfahrzeug nt

(liter, = fleeting) thought, happiness, hour, visit → flüchtig

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

fugitive

[ˈfjuːdʒɪtɪv]

1. n → fuggitivo/a, profugo/a; (from prison) → evaso/a

2. adj → fuggitivo/a (liter) (fleeting) → fugace, fuggevole

fugitive

(ˈfjuːdʒətiv) noun

a person who is running away (from the police etc). a fugitive from justice.

References in classic literature ?

Having murdered his brother-in-law, Orrin Brower of Kentucky was a fugitive from justice.

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That is not their chief riding ahead of them, but a fugitive."

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It is scarcely questioned that this provision was intended by those who made it for the reclaiming of what we call fugitive slaves; and the intention of the lawgiver is the law.

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How plainly he's a fugitive! no baggage, not a hat-box, valise, or carpet-bag, --no friends accompany him to the wharf with their adieux.

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I was afraid to speak to any one for fear of speaking to the wrong one, and thereby fall- ing into the hands of money-loving kidnappers, whose business it was to lie in wait for the panting fugitive, as the ferocious beasts of the forest lie in wait for their prey.

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Then, realising that he was deserted, he dodged round and made off down the lane after the chaise, with the sturdy man close behind him, and the fugitive, who had turned now, following remotely.

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And she placed her hands on her brow, as if to force the fugitive ideas it contained to concentration in a moment.

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I was living in a time of high political tumult, and I certainly cared very much for the question of slavery which was then filling the minds of men; I felt deeply the shame and wrong of our Fugitive Slave Law; I was stirred by the news from Kansas, where the great struggle between the two great principles in our nationality was beginning in bloodshed; but I cannot pretend that any of these things were more than ripples on the surface of my intense and profound interest in literature.

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He soon found the trail of the fugitives, and spurred on in hopes of overtaking them.

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An hour sufficed to bring the fugitives to the bank of the stream, which was one of the hundred rivers that serve to conduct, through the mighty arteries of the Missouri and Mississippi, the waters of that vast and still uninhabited region to the Ocean.

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Unmarried men are best friends, best masters, best servants; but not always best subjects; for they are light to run away; and almost all fugitives, are of that condition.

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The returning hunters had covered a little more than three miles of the five that had separated them from the village when they met the first of the fugitives who had escaped the bullets and clutches of the foe.