French word

fugue

Pronunciation

IPA/fyg/

Meaning

  • feminine nounrunning away

Example

Il a fait une fugue la semaine dernière.

He ran away from home last week.

Illustration for fugue (running away)

More examples

La police a retrouvé la fille pendant sa fugue.

The police found the girl during her runaway episode.

Core concept

A young person slips away from home with a bag and spends time elsewhere without warning.

Common phrases

  • une fugue d'adolescence

    a teenage runaway episode

  • partir en fugue

    to run away from home

Similar words

disparition: A person or thing suddenly becoming impossible to find.
fuite: Escaping from a place or situation by leaving quickly.

Definition in French

Fait de s'en aller du domicile sans prévenir et de rester absent un certain temps, surtout utilisé pour les jeunes.

Word origin

French fugue comes through Italian fuga from Latin fuga, meaning flight, and the same root names the musical fugue and the medical term fugue.

Usage tips

  • In everyday French, une fugue usually means running away from home, while music and medical contexts give the noun different senses.

Other meanings

  • fuguenoun
  • dissociative fuguenoun

Opposites

Related words

  • fuguerrun away from homeverb
  • fuguérunawayadjective

Word lists with this word