# flee

> English word · Verb · IPA /fliː/ · frequency rank #9,469

## Definitions
1. To run away; to escape.
2. To escape from.
3. To disappear quickly; to vanish; to fleet.

## Etymology
From Middle English flen, from Old English flēon, from Proto-West Germanic *fleuhan, from Proto-Germanic *fleuhaną, from Proto-Indo-European *plewk-, *plew- (“to fly, flow, run”).
Cognate with Dutch vlieden, German fliehen, Icelandic flýja, Swedish fly, Gothic 𐌸𐌻𐌹𐌿𐌷𐌰𐌽 (þliuhan). Within English, related to fly and more distantly to flow.

## Easily confused with
- **fly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flee-vs-fly)
- **flu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flee-vs-flu)
- **foe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flee-vs-foe)
- **Flo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flee-vs-flo)
- **FTE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flee-vs-fte)
- **free** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flee-vs-free)
- **fuel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flee-vs-fuel)
- **flow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flee-vs-flow)
- **Fred** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flee-vs-fred)
- **flip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flee-vs-flip)
- **flew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flee-vs-flew)
- **flex** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flee-vs-flex)
- **fuse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flee-vs-fuse)
- **flux** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flee-vs-flux)
- **flop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flee-vs-flop)
- **foes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flee-vs-foes)
- **fret** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flee-vs-fret)
- **Frey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flee-vs-frey)
- **flue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flee-vs-flue)
- **FTSE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flee-vs-ftse)

## Common misspellings (4)
`fflee`, `fle`, `fllee`, `lfee`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/flee