Synonyms of run

run 1 of 2

verb

ˈrən 

1

as in to jog

to go at a pace faster than a walk

we ran all the way to the bus stop, but still missed the bus

Synonyms & Similar Words

• jog
• trot
• race
• sprint
• hurry
• speed
• gallop
• skip
• scamper
• rush
• trip
• leap
• dash
• scurry
• scoot
• zip
• bound
• hustle
• spring
• course
• scuttle
• rip
• hurl
• lope
• breeze
• hare
• tear
• shag
• rocket
• hurtle
• jet
• hasten
• blast
• hie
• blow
• ram
• leg (it)
• bowl
• belt
• barrel
• whisk
• zoom
• hump
• blaze
• careen
• whirl
• step (along)
• pelt
• buzz
• foot (it)
• shoot
• bolt
• hoof (it)
• canter
• rustle
• nip
• bomb
• bustle
• hotfoot (it)
• cannonball
• patter

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• stroll
• drag
• saunter
• shuffle
• amble
• crawl
• linger
• creep
• poke
• lag
• dawdle
• loiter
• shamble
• tarry
• trudge
• limp
• lumber
• hobble
• plod
• dillydally
• dally

2

as in to flee

to hasten away from something dangerous or frightening

rather than run from a black bear, it's better to hold your ground and make lots of noise

Synonyms & Similar Words

• flee
• fly
• retreat
• bolt
• escape
• break
• run off
• beat a retreat
• run away
• beat it
• turn tail
• bug out
• skedaddle
• hightail (it)
• make tracks
• get out
• get (away)
• skip (out)
• clear out
• abscond
• make off
• scram
• decamp
• light out
• elope
• scat
• lam
• skirr
• scarper
• mizzle

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• confront
• dare
• face
• beard
• remain
• defy
• stay
• brave
• dwell
• linger
• abide
• hang around
• stick around
• tarry

3

as in to lead

to be positioned along a certain course or in a certain direction

the road runs along the river for a while

Synonyms & Similar Words

• lead
• go
• extend
• lie
• head
• pass
• cut
• cross
• bear
• course
• follow
• span
• traverse

4

as in to vary

to occur within a continuous range of variation

the electric bill runs between 30 and 50 dollars a month

Synonyms & Similar Words

• vary
• range
• go
• move
• reach
• change
• shift
• fluctuate
• extend
• alternate
• sweep
• stretch
• mutate

5

as in to flow

to move in a stream

water running down the window

Synonyms & Similar Words

• flow
• pour
• stream
• drip
• rush
• roll
• race
• emanate
• course
• issue
• flood
• arise
• spring
• ripple
• flush
• fountain
• spurt
• overrun
• gush
• engulf
• effuse
• inundate
• trickle
• sheet
• cascade
• swamp
• spout
• overflow
• disembogue
• deluge
• wash out
• dribble
• riffle
• gutter

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• back up
• set
• gel
• harden
• coagulate
• congeal
• clot

6

as in to race

to proceed or move quickly

run and get the nurse

Synonyms & Similar Words

• race
• hurry
• speed
• scurry
• trot
• travel
• rush
• drive
• fly
• jump
• chase
• zip
• scoot
• scuttle
• jog
• blow
• buzz
• rip
• step
• dart
• tear
• blast
• dash
• course
• career
• hurl
• breeze
• ram
• motor
• zoom
• crack (on)
• shoot
• bowl
• hare
• whirl
• get a move on
• rocket
• hurtle
• bolt
• hasten
• beat it
• jet
• bundle
• hustle
• hie
• barrel
• blaze
• gallop
• whisk
• belt
• hump
• nip
• rustle
• careen
• pelt
• make tracks
• step on it
• shake a leg
• scamper
• highball
• bomb
• bustle
• flit
• sprint
• streak
• cannonball
• hotfoot (it)
• accelerate
• outrun
• overtake
• stampede
• step out
• whiz
• outpace
• quicken
• catch up
• beetle
• outstrip
• scud
• scuffle
• arrow
• fast-forward
• beeline

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• crawl
• creep
• drag
• poke
• linger
• hang (around or out)
• poke
• lag
• stroll
• dawdle
• loiter
• saunter
• shuffle
• tarry
• amble
• lumber
• slow (down or up)
• plod
• decelerate
• dillydally
• dally

7

as in to tend

to show a liking or proneness (for something)

unfortunately, members of his family run to fatness

Synonyms & Similar Words

• tend
• lean
• go
• incline
• trend
• indicate
• suggest
• point
• gravitate

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• avoid
• shun
• shy (from or away from)

8

as in to drive

to urge, push, or force onward

they ran the horses hard in order to get to the ranch quickly

Synonyms & Similar Words

• drive
• herd
• punch
• shepherd
• whip
• spur
• prompt
• egg
• wrangle
• press
• exhort
• prod
• hound
• goad
• flog
• prick
• scourge

9

as in to operate

to control the mechanical operation of

I know how to run that machine

Synonyms & Similar Words

• operate
• use
• handle
• work
• manipulate
• drive
• steer
• wield
• control
• maneuver
• guide
• pilot
• ply
• direct
• command

10

as in to become

to eventually have as a state or quality

the poor woman ran herself ragged trying to care for all those children

Synonyms & Similar Words

• become
• get
• go
• grow
• come
• turn
• change
• transform
• modify
• wax
• alter
• mutate
• transmute
• metamorphose
• transfigure

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• be
• continue
• remain
• stay
• linger
• abide

11

as in to melt

to go from a solid to a liquid state

her makeup started to run when she got in the pool

Synonyms & Similar Words

• melt
• thaw
• found
• liquefy
• flux
• soften
• fuse
• try
• smelt
• dissolve
• deliquesce
• render
• thin
• gutter

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• set
• solidify
• harden
• gel
• coagulate
• thicken
• congeal
• jell
• clot
• jelly

12

as in to manage

to look after and make decisions about

learning to run the family business

Synonyms & Similar Words

• operate
• manage
• supervise
• oversee
• control
• regulate
• handle
• conduct
• govern
• tend
• keep
• administer
• carry on
• protect
• guide
• direct
• preside (over)
• watch over
• administrate
• steer
• steward
• lead
• watch
• overlook
• superintend
• safeguard
• pilot
• care (for)
• guard
• mind
• micromanage
• codirect
• comanage
• stage-manage

13

as in to activate

to cause to function

in olden days mills were run by flowing water

Synonyms & Similar Words

• activate
• trigger
• drive
• spark
• power
• generate
• set off
• move
• start
• fuel
• push
• turn on
• ignite
• provoke
• actuate
• touch off
• crank (up)
• launch
• charge
• fire
• electrify
• energize
• switch
• stimulate
• turn over
• kick over
• stir up
• trip
• reactivate
• release
• accelerate
• recharge
• incite
• instigate
• discharge
• catalyze
• jump-start
• kick-start
• quicken
• excite
• step up
• arouse
• speed (up)
• vitalize

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• cut
• kill
• shut off
• stop
• check
• cut out
• turn off
• stick
• cut off
• draw up
• halt
• brake
• arrest
• deactivate
• slow
• stall
• suppress
• jam
• repress
• decelerate
• stunt

14

as in to cost

to have a price of

that sort of computer runs at least several hundred dollars

Synonyms & Similar Words

• cost
• fetch
• bring
• sell (for)
• go (for)
• come (to)
• ask
• list (for)
• amount (to)
• exact
• demand
• total
• command

15

as in to travel

to come or be together as friends

he's been running with a bad crowd lately

Synonyms & Similar Words

• travel
• connect
• collaborate
• mix
• associate
• bond
• company
• join
• mingle
• befriend
• hook up
• sort
• rub shoulders (with)
• take up with
• relate
• hang (around or out)
• cooperate
• consociate
• fraternize
• fall in with
• friend
• pal (around)
• rally
• tie
• rub elbows (with)
• keep company (with)
• consort
• team
• couple
• socialize
• get along
• chum
• club
• hobnob
• get on
• group
• affiliate
• collude
• mess around
• link
• gang
• be friends with
• attach
• side
• league
• interrelate
• knot
• ally
• confederate
• band
• wed
• conjoin

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• avoid
• shun
• alienate
• snub
• split (up)
• split
• disperse
• break up
• disband
• cold-shoulder
• dissociate
• sever
• divorce
• estrange
• sunder
• disjoin
• disunite

16

as in to chase

to go after or on the track of

if that dog continues to run cars, he's going to get seriously hurt

Synonyms & Similar Words

• chase
• pursue
• track
• escort
• accompany
• course
• trace
• follow
• tail
• dog
• trail
• run after
• tag
• hound
• shadow
• bird-dog
• watch
• seek
• hunt
• search (for)
• eye
• chaperone
• observe

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• lead
• guide
• pilot
• head

run

2 of 2

noun

1

as in tendency

a prevailing or general movement or inclination

the company's stock has remained consistent with the overall run of the market

Synonyms & Similar Words

• tendency
• direction
• tide
• trend
• wind
• drift
• shift
• current
• turn
• curve
• leaning
• swing
• way
• habit
• custom
• downside
• tenor
• propensity
• upside
• turnabout
• countercurrent
• countertrend
• undertow
• undercurrent

2

as in brook

chiefly Midland a natural body of running water smaller than a river

a run full of catfish

Synonyms & Similar Words

• brook
• creek
• stream
• burn
• rivulet
• rill
• tributary
• beck
• canal
• runnel
• wash
• fresh
• bayou
• bourn
• streamlet
• runoff
• brooklet
• race
• runlet
• gill
• kill
• channel
• cut
• slough
• cutoff
• arroyo
• freshet
• coulee
• waterway
• branch
• watercourse
• affluent
• billabong
• millrace
• influent
• millstream
• distributary
• confluent
• gut

3

as in duration

the period during which something exists, lasts, or is in progress

the actor has been assigned the part for the run of the show

Synonyms & Similar Words

• duration
• time
• lifespan
• life
• lifetime
• continuance
• date
• standing
• span
• term
• stretch
• tour
• tenure
• spell
• hitch
• turn
• longevity
• age
• half-life

4

as in authorization

the right to act or move freely

gave the dogs the run of the place

Synonyms & Similar Words

• authorization
• latitude
• freedom
• control
• license
• power
• free hand
• authority
• mandate
• room
• command
• sway
• hold
• space
• dominion
• clutch
• mastery
• grip
• range
• carte blanche
• blank check

5

as in trots

runs plural abnormally frequent intestinal evacuations with more or less fluid stools

with weekend guests in the house, it was no time to get the runs

Synonyms & Similar Words

• trots
• diarrhea
• Delhi belly
• Montezuma's revenge
• flux
• turista
• dysentery
• shigellosis
• scour(s)

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of run

Verb

Garth Brooks, Noname and women running the show Fall means live music. — Kayla Samoy, Chicago Tribune, 11 Sep. 2026

Brian Dillard gets loose in the secondary and Will Jackson hits him for an 85 yard catch and run for the touchdown. — Buddy Collings, The Orlando Sentinel, 11 Sep. 2026

Noun

The woeful run defense and pass rush didn’t prevent them from making a run in the playoffs last season. — Kevin Fishbain, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026

At the end of each run, the atoms that landed in one of the interferometer’s two exits were sorted by the phase accumulated by the falling path. — Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 11 Sep. 2026

Phrases Containing run

• dry run
• run (over)
• run across
• run after
• run against
• run along
• run amok
• run amuck
• run away
• run by
• run circles around
• run down
• run in
• run into
• run off
• run off with
• run on
• run one's mouth
• run out of
• run over
• run past
• run rings around
• run riot
• run the risk of
• run through
• run to seed
• run upon