absconder

ab·scon·der
A1B3S1C3O1N1D2E1R1
US/æbˈskɑn.dɚ/US/æbˈzkɑn.dɚ/UK/æbˈskɒn.də/

noun

A person who absconds.

RareFirst used First attested in the late 17th century.Scrabble 14

Meanings

nounabsconder (plural absconders)

plural absconders

  1. A person who absconds.First known use First attested in the late 17th century.

    Steve and I sneaked immediately, like beaten curs, like cowards, like absconders from justice.

    1910, Jack London, “That Spot”, in Lost Face, New York: Macmillan, page 112
    3 more examples

    […] unless such an Act of Grace do reach insolvent Absconders, who to shun the Cruelty of their severe Creditors confine themselves out of their Reach, ’tis humbly conceived, ’twill be but half an Act of Grace.

    1696, Considerations upon the Bill for the Relief of Poor Prisoners,

    What else could it all mean but that Mr. Robert Weymouth was an absconder—was about to fly with the bank’s remaining funds […]

    1909, O. Henry, “The Guardian of the Accolade”, in Roads of Destiny, Doubleday Page, page 33

    He smiled at the view over the hedge, at the other front gardens, at the approaching Rover and then its driver, squinting in a rictus of his own against the evening sun, and making Paul feel again like an intruder, or now perhaps an absconder.

    2011, Alan Hollinghurst, The Stranger’s Child, Knopf Canada, Part Three, Chapter 1

Synonyms & antonyms

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ep
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂epó
  3. Proto-Italic*ap
  4. Latinab
  5. Latinabs-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
  7. Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
  8. Proto-Italic*kom
  9. Proto-Italic*kom-
  10. Latincon-
  11. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-
  12. Proto-Indo-European*dʰéh₁t
  13. Latincondō
  14. Latinabscondō
  15. Middle Frenchabscondre
  16. Latinabscondō
  17. Englishabscond
  18. Englishabsconder

From abscond + -er.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Dutch drosser
  • drosserone who absconds
German Ausreißer, Flüchtiger
  • Ausreißerone who absconds
  • Flüchtigerone who absconds
Hindi भगोड़ा
  • भगोड़ा (bhagoṛā)one who absconds

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with absconder

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

absconder. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/absconder

MLA

“absconder.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/absconder. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “absconder,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/absconder.

Source: absconder on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.