on the lam

ADJECTIVE

fugitive

Synonyms

STRONGEST

elusive

STRONG

brief ephemeral flying passing short temporary volatile wandering

WEAK

avoiding errant erratic escaping evading evanescent fleeting flitting fugacious impermanent momentary moving short-lived transitory unstable

Antonyms

STRONG

enduring lasting lengthy long permanent

WEAK

confronting facing

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Monkeys on the lam in St. Louis and AI isn’t helping.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 15, 2026

Robert Redford became a bankable leading man in 1969, when “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” about a pair of outlaws on the lam, turned him into a paragon of the movie star.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 23, 2025

What are the odds that Luke would randomly buy a salvaged droid that just so happened to be on the lam from his own daddy?

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 23, 2025

They went on the lam to Chicago, Florida, and Arizona, and points in between.

From Slate • Dec. 18, 2024

By the way he was acting I was starting to think that maybe Lefty Lewis was on the lam too.

From "Bud, Not Buddy" by Christopher Paul Curtis