run out of town
Driven away publicly
To run someone out of town is to force them to leave a community, usually through social pressure, threats, or public disgrace rather than physical violence.
The phrase evokes frontier justice—tarring and feathering, riding someone out on a rail.
Today it's typically figurative: After the scandal broke, they ran the mayor out of town.
The passive run out of town emphasizes the victim's humiliation.
- banishOfficially send away
- expelRemove forcibly from membership
- cast outForcibly remove or expel
- ostracizeExclude from a group
- deportExpel from a country
force out · drive out · driven out · run off · tar and feather · vigilante justice · angry mob · witch hunt · throw out · exile · evict · kick out · drummed out · scapegoat · public enemy · pitchforks · public shaming · displace
run out of townrolled out the red carpet
Gave a grand welcome
celebrated · feted · honored · taken in · accepted
run out of townlionized
Made into celebrity
put on a pedestal · lauded · exalted · venerated · canonized
town, running, runner, runners, runny, outrun, overrun, outing, outermost