Adjacent Words

Fugitive definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FU'GITIVE, a. [L. fugitivus, from fugio, to flee. Gr.]
1. Volatile; apt to flee away; readily wafted by the wind.
The more tender and fugitive parts -
2. Not tenable; not to be held or detained; readily escaping; as a fugitive idea.
3. Unstable; unsteady; fleeting; not fixed or durable.
4. Fleeing; running from danger or pursuit.
5. Fleeing from duty; eloping; escaping.
Can a fugitive daughter enjoy herself, while her parents are in tears?
6. Wandering; vagabond; as a fugitive physician.
7. In literature, fugitive compositions are such as are short and occasional, written in haste or at intervals, and considered to be fleeting and temporary.
FU'GITIVE, n.
1. One who fees from his station or duty; a deserter; one who flees from danger.
2. One who has fled or deserted and taken refuge under another power, or one who has fled from punishment.
3. One hard to be caught or detained.
Or catch that airy fugitive, called wit.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: lasting for a markedly brief time; "a fleeting glance"; "fugitive hours"; "rapid momentaneous association of things that meet and pass"; "a momentary glimpse" [syn: fleeting, fugitive, momentaneous, momentary] n
1: someone who flees from an uncongenial situation; "fugitives from the sweatshops" [syn: fugitive, runaway, fleer]
2: someone who is sought by law officers; someone trying to elude justice [syn: fugitive, fugitive from justice]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French fugitif, from Latin fugitivus, from fugitus, past participle of fugere to flee; akin to Greek pheugein to flee Date: 14th century 1. running away or intending flight <a fugitive slave> <a fugitive debtor> 2. moving from place to place ; wandering 3. a. being of short duration b. difficult to grasp or retain ; elusive c. likely to evaporate, deteriorate, change, fade, or disappear <dyed with fugitive colors> 4. being of transient interest <fugitive essays> Synonyms: see transient • fugitively adverb • fugitiveness noun II. noun Date: 14th century 1. a person who flees or tries to escape; especially refugee 2. something elusive or hard to find

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 fleeing; that runs or has run away. 2 transient, fleeting; of short duration. 3 (of literature) of passing interest, ephemeral. 4 flitting, shifting. --n. 1 (often foll. by from) a person who flees, esp. from justice, an enemy, danger, or a master. 2 an exile or refugee. Derivatives: fugitively adv. Etymology: ME f. OF fugitif -ive f. L fugitivus f. fugere fugit- flee

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fugitive Fu"gi*tive, n. 1. One who flees from pursuit, danger, restraint, service, duty, etc.; a deserter; as, a fugitive from justice. 2. Something hard to be caught or detained. Or Catch that airy fugitive called wit. --Harte. Fugitive from justice (Law), one who, having committed a crime in one jurisdiction, flees or escapes into another to avoid punishment.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fugitive Fu"gi*tive, a. [OE. fugitif, F. fugitif, fr. L. fugitivus, fr. fugere to flee. See Bow to bend, and cf. Feverfew.] 1. Fleeing from pursuit, danger, restraint, etc., escaping, from service, duty etc.; as, a fugitive solder; a fugitive slave; a fugitive debtor. The fugitive Parthians follow. --Shak. Can a fugitive daughter enjoy herself while her parents are in tear? --Richardson A libellous pamphlet of a fugitive physician. --Sir H. Wotton. 2. Not fixed; not durable; liable to disappear or fall away; volatile; uncertain; evanescent; liable to fade; -- applied to material and immaterial things; as, fugitive colors; a fugitive idea. The me more tender and fugitive parts, the leaves . . . of vegatables. --Woodward. Fugitive compositions, Such as are short and occasional, and so published that they quickly escape notice. Syn: Fleeting; unstable; wandering; uncertain; volatile; fugacious; fleeing; evanescent.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(fugitives) A fugitive is someone who is running away or hiding, usually in order to avoid being caught by the police. ...the fugitive train robber. N-COUNT

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Gen. 4:12, 14, a rover or wanderer (Heb. n'a); Judg. 12:4, a refugee, one who has escaped (Heb. palit); 2 Kings 25:11, a deserter, one who has fallen away to the enemy (Heb. nophel); Ezek. 17:21, one who has broken away in flight (Heb. mibrah); Isa. 15:5; 43:14, a breaker away, a fugitive (Heb. beriah), one who flees away.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

fu'-ji-tiv (paliT, from palaT, "to escape"; na`, from nua`, "to waver"; nophel, from naphal, "to fall"; bariach, beriach and mibhrach, from barach, "to flee"):

One who flees from danger (Isa 15:5; Eze 17:21); escapes from bondage ( /APC 2Macc 8:35 (as adjective)); deserts from duty (Jud 12:4; 2Ki 25:11 the King James Version; compare /APC Judith 16:12 the King James Version), or wanders aimlessly (Ge 4:12,14).

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. 1. Fleeing, flying, escaping. 2. Transitory, transient, evanescent, fleeting, flying, fugacious, flitting, passing, momentary, short, brief, temporary, temporal, ephemeral, short-lived. II. n. Runaway, deserter.

Moby Thesaurus

DP, Judas, absconder, at large, betrayer, bolter, brief, brittle, capricious, changeable, circumforaneous, convict, corruptible, criminal, crook, deceiver, deciduous, deserter, desperado, desperate criminal, disappearing, discursive, disengaged, displaced person, dissolving, divagatory, double-dealer, drifting, dying, eloper, emigre, ephemeral, errant, escape artist, escaped, escapee, escaper, escapist, evacuee, evanescent, evaporating, fading, felon, fickle, fled, fleeing, fleer, fleeting, flitting, floating, flown, fly-by-night, flying, footloose, footloose and fancy-free, fragile, frail, free, fugacious, gadding, gallows bird, gangster, gaolbird, gypsy-like, gypsyish, hot, impermanent, impetuous, impulsive, in flight, inconstant, insubstantial, jailbird, landloping, lawbreaker, loose, meandering, melting, migrational, migratory, mobster, momentary, mortal, mutable, nomad, nomadic, nondurable, nonpermanent, on the lam, on the loose, out of, outlaw, passing, perishable, public enemy, quisling, racketeer, rambling, ranging, refugee, roaming, roving, runagate, runaway, running away, scofflaw, scot-free, shifting, short-lived, skedaddler, stateless person, straggling, straying, strolling, swindler, temporal, temporary, thief, thug, traipsing, traitor, transient, transitive, transitory, transmigratory, two-timer, undurable, unenduring, unstable, vagabond, vagrant, vanishing, volatile, wandering, well out of