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fugitive

fu·gi·tive/ˈfjuːd͡ʒɪtɪv/noun, adjective, verb

fugitive is spelled F-U-G-I-T-I-V-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables (fu·gi·tive). It appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 14,106th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, fugitive means “A person who flees or escapes and travels secretly from place to place, and sometimes using disguises and aliases to conceal their identity, as to…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of fugitive is fugitives.

How many letters and syllables are in fugitive?

Letters8: F-U-G-I-T-I-V-E
Syllables3: fu·gi·tive
In writing3.5 times per million words; the 14,106th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is fugitive?

Fugitive appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 14,106th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce fugitive?

  • /ˈfjuːd͡ʒɪtɪv/

Fugitive has 3 syllables, split fu·gi·tive in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-fugitive.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of fugitive

  • fugitives plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • more fugitive comparative
  • most fugitive superlative
  • fugitiving participle, present
  • fugitived participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does fugitive mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A person who flees or escapes and travels secretly from place to place, and sometimes using disguises and aliases to conceal their identity, as to avoid law authorities in order to avoid an arrest or prosecution, or to avoid some other unwanted situation.

adjective

  1. 1

    Fleeing or running away; escaping.

  2. 2

    Transient, fleeting or ephemeral.

  3. 3

    Elusive or difficult to retain.

verb

  1. 1

    To render someone a fugitive; to drive into escape or exile.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Fugitive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchfugitif, fugitive (a person who is fleeing or escaping from…), éphémère (transient, fleeting or ephemeral), fuyant (elusive or difficult to retain)
GermanFlüchtling (a person who is fleeing or escaping from…), vorübergehend, kurzlebig (transient, fleeting or ephemeral), flüchtig (fleeing or running away)
Portuguesefugitivo, foragido (a person who is fleeing or escaping from…), efêmero (transient, fleeting or ephemeral), esquivo (elusive or difficult to retain)
Spanishfugitivo, prófugo (a person who is fleeing or escaping from…), fugaz (transient, fleeting or ephemeral), irado, forajido (fleeing or running away)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does fugitive come from?

From Middle English fugitive, fugityve, fugityf, fugitife, fugytif, fugitif, from Latin fugitīvus, from fugitō, from fugiō.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after fugitive