abandon

American  

[uh-ban-duhn] / əˈbæn dən /

verb (used with object)

1. to leave completely and finally; forsake utterly; desert.

   The crew finally abandoned the sinking ship and boarded a lifeboat.

   He abandoned his wife and children, leaving them in poverty.

   Antonyms:

   keep

2. to give up; withdraw from; discontinue.

   She had to abandon the research project when the grant money dried up.

   I’ve abandoned all hope of a stage career.

   Antonyms:

   start, begin, continue

3. to give up the control of.

   After a long struggle, they abandoned the city to the invading army.

   Synonyms:

   abdicate, waive, resign, surrender, yield

   Antonyms:

   retain

4. to yield (oneself) without restraint or moderation; give (oneself) over to natural impulses, usually without self-control.

   After the breakup, he fell apart and abandoned himself to grief.

5. Law. to cast away, leave, or desert, as property or a child.

6. Insurance. to relinquish (insured property) to the underwriter in case of partial loss, thus enabling the insured to claim a total loss.

7. Obsolete. to banish.

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noun

1. a complete surrender to natural impulses without restraint or moderation; freedom from inhibition.

   During this retreat you will learn to play and dance with reckless abandon.

abandon British  

/ əˈbændən /

verb

1. to forsake completely; desert; leave behind

   to abandon a baby

   drivers had to abandon their cars

2. the order given to the crew of a ship that is about to sink to take to the lifeboats

3. to give up completely

   to abandon a habit

   to abandon hope

4. to yield control of or concern in; relinquish

   to abandon office

5. to give up (something begun) before completion

   to abandon a job

   the game was abandoned

6. to surrender (oneself) to emotion without restraint

7. to give (insured property that has suffered partial loss or damage) to the insurers in order that a claim for a total loss may be made

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noun

1. freedom from inhibitions, restraint, concern, or worry

   she danced with abandon

Related Words

See desert ². Abandon, relinquish, renounce mean to give up all concern in something. Abandon means to give up or discontinue any further interest in something because of discouragement, weariness, distaste, or the like: to abandon one's efforts. Relinquish implies being or feeling compelled to give up something one would prefer to keep: to relinquish a long-cherished desire. Renounce implies making (and perhaps formally stating) a voluntary decision to give something up: to renounce worldly pleasures.

Other Word Forms

• abandonable adjective
• abandoner noun
• abandonment noun
• unabandoning adjective

Etymology

Origin of abandon

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English verb abando(u)nen, from Middle French abandoner, from Old French (mettre) a bandon “(put) under (someone's) jurisdiction,” equivalent to a “at, to” (from Latin ad; ad- ) + bandon, from Germanic band (unrecorded); bond ¹; noun derivative of the verb

Explanation

To abandon something is to give it up completely. If you’re in a cabin and a forest fire approaches, you’d better get in your car and abandon your cabin, or else be prepared to abandon your life. If you abandon something, you let it go, so when you describe someone as "acting with abandon," it means they have let go of restrictions or inhibitions. Maybe you like to dance with abandon in the privacy of your own room. But abandon could also mean people have abandoned their senses. To "drive with abandon," for example, means to drive recklessly.

Example Sentences

Nevertheless, last month, the Louisiana Public Service Commission voted to let Sleca abandon the biggest section of camps—a 31-mile span of power line that services 158 meters near Lake De Cade, including the Boss family’s.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

I didn’t want to abandon that instinct so much as … give it a little more range.

From Salon • Apr. 10, 2026

From that point in the novel to its wrenching end, June searches for her baby with the passionate abandon of a first-time mother and the aching hunger of every mother separated from her child.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026

“Government bonds are rallying as inflation worries fade and markets begin to abandon bets on further central bank rate hikes,” said Kallum Pickering, chief economist at Peel Hunt.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 8, 2026

Baby Joe would abandon bailing and cling to me, his heart racing.

From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo

Related Words

• desert
• discard
• discontinue
• ditch
• drop out
• dump
• leave
• pull out
• quit
• stop
• surrender
• vacate
• withdraw