The Greek apopheugó means to flee away from, to escape, to get away. It combines apo (away from) with pheugó (to flee), emphasizing both the direction (away) and the urgency of escape.
Apopheugó appears twice in 2 Peter (1:4; 2:18,20) in the context of escaping the corruption of the world through the divine nature. The word frames the Christian life as a continual flight from moral corruption — not a passive resignation but an active, Spirit-empowered escape from the pollution of sinful desire. Peter contrasts those who have genuinely escaped (through Christ) with those who escape and then return to entanglement (2:20). The metaphor connects to Old Testament imagery of fleeing from Sodom and fleeing from sin in Proverbs.