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Escape vs Flee vs Fly vs Decamp vs Abscond

Escapefleeflydecampabscond mean to run away especially from something which limits one’s freedom or threatens one’s well-being.

Escape so stresses the idea of flight from confinement or restraint that it very often conveys no suggestion of wrongdoing or of danger.

Flee implies haste and often abruptness in departure. It often connotes disappearance, especially when extended to things.

Fly is interchangeable with flee but its use is restricted in idiomatic English to the present tense.

Decamp usually suggests a sudden departure to elude discovery or arrest; it commonly carries a disparaging or belittling connotation.

Abscond adds to decamp the distinctive implications of clandestine withdrawal and concealment usually to avoid the consequences of fraudulent action.