absquatulate
/æbˈskwɑt͡ʃ.ʊ.leɪt/
absquatulate means to leave quickly or in a hurry; to depart, flee.
absquatulate is pronounced /æbˈskwɑt͡ʃ.ʊ.leɪt/.
Why “absquatulate” is a great word
To leave abruptly or in a hurry; to decamp, flee. A facetious 19th-century American pseudo-Latin coinage, blending the English prefix *ab-* (away), the verb *squat* (to settle), and the suffix *-ulate* (as in *perambulate*), first attested in the 1830s. Unlike "depart" (a neutral, general term) or "abscond" (which implies a secret flight from the law, often with purloined goods), to absquatulate is to make a hurried, comical exit, all flapping coattails and hastily abandoned plans. It is the stagecoach kicking up dust before the bill collector arrives, the cards left fanned on the table after a sudden shout of "Sheriff!", the guest vanishing into the night just as the serious conversation begins—a portrait of escape painted in broad, farcical strokes, acknowledging that sometimes dignity is the first thing left behind.
verb
- To leave quickly or in a hurry; to depart, flee.“Even within the past year, several Land Officers and keepers of public monies--the Collector of New Orleans and Plattsburg--the Post Masters of Mobile and Worcester have made serious and prominent additions to the long catalogue of absquatulating defaulters.”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.