Synonyms

annul

American

[uh-nuhl] / əˈnʌl /

verb (used with object)

annulled, annulling

(especially of laws or other established rules, usages, etc.) to make void or null; abolish; cancel; invalidate.

to annul a marriage.

Synonyms:

repeal, rescind, nullify
to reduce to nothing; obliterate.
to cancel (a regularly scheduled train, plane, social event, etc.) for one day or one time only.

annul British

/ əˈnʌl /

verb

(tr) to make (something, esp a law or marriage) void; cancel the validity of; abolish

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

annullable adjective
self-annulling adjective
unannullable adjective
unannulled adjective

Etymology

Origin of annul

1375–1425; late Middle English < Anglo-French annuler < Late Latin adnūllāre render null (calque of Greek exoudeneîn ), equivalent to ad- ad- + -nullāre, verbal derivative of Latin nūllus no, not any

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.

Late last month, Panama’s Supreme Court annulled a contract for CK Hutchison to operate ports at either end of the Panama Canal.

From The Wall Street Journal

A Panama Supreme Court decision to annul CK Hutchison's concession there on Thursday showed how container ports in geopolitically strategic locations have become a prized global currency.

From Barron's

Last year, Sookmyung Women's University annulled an art education degree she graduated with in 1999, after an ethics panel found she had plagiarised her master's thesis.

From BBC

But in 2025, the Supreme Court annulled those verdicts on grounds that included "failure to examine all the necessary evidence" and ordered a new panel of judges to hear the case.

From Barron's

Bosnian Serbs will hold a partial repeat vote in February to replace their banned president Milorad Dodik after some results from November's election were annulled for fraud, the electoral commission said Wednesday.

From Barron's

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023