fleeing

verb

present participle of flee
1
as in disappearing
to cease to be visible the fog fled with the arrival of the dawn

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in escaping
to get free from a dangerous or confining situation a murderer who fled on foot

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in retreating
to hasten away from something dangerous or frightening a toddler who fled when the ladybug he had been quietly watching suddenly began flying around the room

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of fleeing More than 500 people fleeing violence in Myanmar are feared dead after two boats disappeared in rough conditions off the country’s coast, according to two UN migration bodies. — Lex Harvey, CNN Money, 16 July 2026 In 1994 Goma and surrounding areas received hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing from the genocide and subsequent military operations that occurred in Rwanda that year, leading to a humanitarian crisis. — Chinatsu Tsuji, Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 July 2026 In August 2025 in Los Angeles, an SUV on a freeway hit and killed Roberto Carlos Valdez, a Guatemalan immigrant fleeing from an ICE raid at a Home Depot. — Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald, 14 July 2026 For example, a person fleeing an armed robbery at a bank might pose a higher danger than someone fleeing a traffic stop. — ABC News, 14 July 2026 Our young lovers must leave their families and country, fleeing through the first of many doors as refugees. — Literary Hub, 14 July 2026 Hernandez entered the bedroom, stabbing Freas several times before fleeing the apartment. — Eleanor Jacobs, PEOPLE, 14 July 2026 The actress was born in a refugee camp in Germany, where her parents had landed after fleeing from Iran. — Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 8 July 2026 During the alleged incident on March 25, Dick purportedly tracked Buckingham to his location in Santa Monica and threw a substance at the 76-year-old musician before fleeing. — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 7 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fleeing
  1. disappearing
  2. escaping
  3. retreating
  4. vanishing
  5. flying
  6. bolting
  7. fading
  8. running
Verb
  • Africa’s forests are gradually disappearing due to mine development, a new study suggests.
    — Paige Bruton, semafor.com, 15 July 2026
  • The relationship among those numbers tells us whether workers are finding jobs or simply disappearing from the denominator.
    — Katica Roy, Fortune, 14 July 2026
Definition of disappearing
Verb
  • Some tea strainers feature a mesh casing, which is the best option for preventing small particles from escaping the infuser and winding up in your drink.
    — BestReviews, Chicago Tribune, 9 July 2026
  • New research, however, suggests our planet has a better chance of escaping that fiery end than previously thought.
    — Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 8 July 2026
Definition of escaping
Verb
  • Cardinal and Lilly also set fresh record closes last week, before retreating modestly, as J & J has, in recent sessions.
    — Natasha Abellard, CNBC, 14 July 2026
  • And larger investors were already retreating from the single-family market.
    — Samantha Delouya, CNN Money, 11 July 2026
Definition of retreating
Verb
  • This vanishing act is due largely to the thousands of walleye seeking out cool water refuges in the lake, which can shift depending on the weather, experts say.
    — Mark Price, Charlotte Observer, 14 July 2026
  • The feminist sites have largely shut down, and physical media is vanishing; many of the magazines that Jezebel targeted—Redbook, InStyle, Marie Claire, Glamour, Self—have ceased printing or gone entirely defunct.
    — Jia Tolentino, New Yorker, 11 July 2026
Definition of vanishing
Verb
  • After flying toward a naval target over the Black Sea, the aircraft launched one of the supersonic missiles from a stand-off distance exceeding 120 kilometers, successfully destroying its target.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 14 July 2026
  • The Piper Tomahawk had been taken on a test flight by a flying instructor in his 20s after a part was replaced on the plane, the airline said.
    — Charlotte Reck, CNN Money, 14 July 2026
Definition of flying
Verb
  • Timing your planting to avoid summer heat will prevent bolting.
    — Samantha Johnson, Martha Stewart, 7 July 2026
  • Many brands expand into experiences once product growth slows, bolting hospitality or lifestyle onto an existing business model.
    — Kate Hardcastle, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
Definition of bolting
Verb
  • Some hurricane windows can filter out up to 90% of ultraviolet rays, which protects your furniture, carpet, drapes and artwork from fading.
    — Alora Bopray, USA Today, 10 July 2026
  • The pattern is expected to prolong an unrelated existing marine heat wave off the coast of California, which otherwise would have been expected to start fading between October and December.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 9 July 2026
Definition of fading
Verb
  • Compared with a commercial GPU running the same image-denoising task, the optical system delivered more than a hundred times faster inference while using only about one-ninth of the computational resources.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 13 July 2026
  • What can go wrong in the aorta The aorta is the body's largest artery, running from the heart down through the chest and abdomen.
    — Dr. Céline Gounder, CBS News, 13 July 2026
Definition of running

Browse Nearby Words

fleecy
fleeing
flees
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Cite this Entry

“Fleeing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fleeing. Accessed 17 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on fleeing

Nglish: Translation of fleeing for Spanish Speakers

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