abandonment

[uh-ban-duhn-muhnt]

noun

1. an act or instance of leaving a person or thing permanently and completely.

   He struggles to deal with his abandonment by his wife, and now having to care for their infant alone.

2. an act or instance of permanently setting aside a principle, discontinuing an activity, etc..

   I believe in the struggle for radical social change, but it must be accompanied by an abandonment of the notion that the end justifies the means.

3. an act or instance of giving up control of something, or of yielding to one’s impulses or to an external or spiritual force.

   No psychiatric diagnosis quite captures Hitler’s boundless will to lead, his self-deception, and his utter abandonment to evil.

Other Word Forms

• nonabandonment noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of abandonment¹

abandon ( def. ) + -ment ( def. )

Example Sentences

Over the 22 months of her campaign — between the launch in January 2024 and its abandonment on Sept. 29 — Atkins traveled California from tip to toe, holding countless meetings and talking to innumerable voters.

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The club also insisted that the abandonment of the Tel Aviv derby against Hapoel Tel Aviv on Sunday, over what the police called "public disorder and violent riots", was not down to their supporters.

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Rajoelina attempted to dissolve the national assembly before the opposition could vote to strip him of his presidency for abandonment of post, but that didn't work.

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TiVo’s abandonment of hardware in favor of pitching its operating system is one manifestation of the shift.

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Numerous flashbacks include Lobb’s diary entries, which lay bare his marital infidelity and family abandonment for a second marriage to a woman not much older than his children.

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Related Words

• renunciation