abandoned

American  

[uh-ban-duhnd] / əˈbæn dənd /

adjective

1. forsaken or deserted.

   an abandoned building; an abandoned kitten.

2. unrestrained or uncontrolled; uninhibited.

   She danced with abandoned enthusiasm.

3. utterly lacking in moral restraints; shameless; wicked.

   an abandoned and dissolute ruler.

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abandoned British  

/ əˈbændənd /

adjective

1. deserted

   an abandoned windmill

2. forsaken

   an abandoned child

3. unrestrained; uninhibited

   wild, abandoned dancing

4. depraved; profligate

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Related Words

See immoral.

Other Word Forms

• abandonedly adverb
• half-abandoned adjective
• unabandoned adjective

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."

Example Sentences

The driver abandoned the vehicle in front of the building and alerted police.

From BBC • Apr. 27, 2026

But in a media environment primed for outrage, context is abandoned in service of engagement.

From Salon • Apr. 27, 2026

They abandoned an all-in pick for an investment in the future.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 25, 2026

This dissolved iron eventually reached a river system that included an oxbow lake, which is an abandoned river channel.

From Science Daily • Apr. 23, 2026

I walked through the mines, where tools were abandoned and the pans full of mud suggested that the villagers still were not finding much gold.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff