French word

enfuir

Pronunciation

IPA/ɑ̃fɥiʁ/

Meaning

  • verbflee

Example

Le voleur s'enfuit.

The thief fled.

Illustration for enfuir (flee)

More examples

La fille s'enfuit de la maison.

The girl runs away from the house.

Core concept

A person rapidly putting distance between themself and a threat, pursuer, or confining place.

Common phrases

  • s'enfuir

    run away

  • s'enfuir de

    run away from ___

  • s'enfuir avec

    run away with ___

Similar words

s'échapper: To escape from a confined place or a dangerous situation.
fuir: To leave quickly to escape danger or pursuers.
s'en aller: To leave a place and go somewhere else.
prendre la fuite: To flee quickly from a place.

Definition in French

Signifie s'éloigner rapidement d'un lieu pour échapper à un danger, à une poursuite ou à une contrainte.

Word origin

French s'enfuir combines en- with fuir, a descendant of Latin fugere, and the pronominal form expresses getting oneself away.

Usage tips

  • In the common meaning, enfuir is used pronominally as s'enfuir, and its compound tenses take être: elle s'est enfuie.

Other meanings

  • escapeverb
  • run awayverb

Opposites

  • resterremainverb
  • se rendregive oneself upverb

Word lists with this word