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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The Secret Life of Bees
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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.
"Bodies were simply abandoned for nature to take its course. None were kept in a dignified manner."
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Masino abandoned many elements of her strategy following the widespread backlash, and her last earnings report sent Cracker Barrel’s shares up sharply.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Dark tourism research reveals that people are drawn to places associated with death, disaster, tragedy and the uncanny, whether former prisons, abandoned sites, or locations connected to unsettling historical events.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
The waterfront restaurant was opened in 1972 by Robert Mardian, a Stanford graduate who abandoned his plans to pursue a career as a lawyer to instead enter the restaurant business.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
Meantime, the abandoned Investigator sank beneath the ice.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
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.
