takas
takás with stress marks
fugitive; to escape
Usage Note
Takas is used both as a noun (ang takas — the escapee) and as a verb root (tumakas — to flee). It carries a sense of urgency and desperation, often appearing in news reports about prison breaks or in dramatic storytelling. The derived form makapagtakas implies successfully getting away.
Examples
" Tumakas ang bilanggo. "
Natural Translation
The prisoner escaped.
Literal Translation
Escaped the prisoner.
" Hinahanap ng pulis ang takas. "
Natural Translation
The police are looking for the fugitive.
Literal Translation
Looking-for by police the fugitive.
" Nakapagtakas ang mga bilanggo nang madaling-araw, kaya't pinaghahanap na sila ngayon ng mga pulis sa buong lungsod. "
Natural Translation
The prisoners managed to escape at dawn, so the police are now searching for them all over the city.
Literal Translation
Managed-to-escape the prisoners at dawn, so being-searched now they now by police in whole city.
Tagalog builds thousands of words from a few hundred roots.
How Tagalog words workActor Focus Verbs
Related Words
- AWOL absence without leave
- Amboy short for American boy
- Ati ethnolinguistic group in Panay
- Balbalan ethnolinguistic group (Kalinga)
- Hiligaynon ethnolinguistic group/language
- Ilokana female native of the Ilocos region; Ilokana woman
- Ilokano Ethnolinguistic group in Ilocos
- Ilonggo Language/People of Western Visayas
Explore Tagalog by topic
Free guides on grammar, vocabulary, and culture to take you past single-word lookups.

Philippine Christmas Traditions: World's Longest Holiday
Philippine Christmas traditions run four months — from Ber-month carols to Simbang Gabi dawn masses, Noche Buena feasts, and parol lanterns lighting every street.

Seasons in the Philippines: A Tagalog Guide
The Philippines has two seasons, not four. Learn tag-araw, tag-ulan, and taglamig, the generative tag- prefix, and the weather vocabulary to match.

Languages of the Philippines: Tagalog, Cebuano, and More
Languages of the Philippines: one national language (Filipino) plus 180+ regional languages. Here's who speaks what, where, and why it matters to you.

Tagalog Slang Guide: 20 Words You'll Hear on TikTok
Tagalog slang explained: lodi, petmalu, werpa, astig, chika and more. Decode Filipino TikTok comments, group chats, and pop culture with this practical guide.