abandoned
Americanadjective
-
forsaken or deserted.
an abandoned building; an abandoned kitten.
-
unrestrained or uncontrolled; uninhibited.
She danced with abandoned enthusiasm.
-
utterly lacking in moral restraints; shameless; wicked.
an abandoned and dissolute ruler.
adjective
-
deserted
an abandoned windmill
-
forsaken
an abandoned child
-
unrestrained; uninhibited
wild, abandoned dancing
-
depraved; profligate
Synonym Usage
See immoral.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of abandoned
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; abandon + -ed 2
Explanation
There's nothing spookier than an abandoned house that's still full of dusty, decaying furniture. When something is abandoned, it's been cast off or deserted. The adjective abandoned describes something that's been given up or discarded. You can use it to talk about a kitten abandoned at an animal shelter, an old car abandoned by the side of the road, or a person's dreams of becoming an opera singer abandoned when they had kids. It comes from the French phrase mettre a bandon, "put someone under another's control."
Vocabulary lists containing abandoned
Beowulf vocabulary
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Flush
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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.
Abandoned at the airport with nothing but a leash and a lot of confusion, a young goldendoodle has landed on the couch of the officer who rescued him.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2026
Abandoned for months on their fishing boat off West Africa, Indonesian sailor Surono and his shipmates face a dilemma: return home without almost a year's wages or stay on the docked vessel.
From Barron's • Feb. 9, 2026
Abandoned for years, it is scarred by soot from a 2014 fire that gutted parts of the structure.
From BBC • Nov. 25, 2025
Abandoned by his mother shortly after his birth in Jamaica in 1944, Mr. Cliff was raised by his father and grandmother.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 24, 2025
Abandoned there, and half destroyed with flies, old Argos lay.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
