abandoned
Americanadjective
-
forsaken or deserted.
an abandoned building; an abandoned kitten.
-
unrestrained or uncontrolled; uninhibited.
She danced with abandoned enthusiasm.
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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
Related Words
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.
The Daily Record reported that Dublin-born Balfe and the Outlander crew filmed near Hartwood Hill, near the site of an abandoned hospital in 2024.
From BBC • May 23, 2026
The Louvre, the seat of French kings until Louis XIV abandoned it for Versailles in the late 1600s, now receives around nine million visitors a year.
From Barron's • May 18, 2026
His proposed ballroom “represents another way this presidency has abandoned its imperative of projecting modesty, openness, and stability,” the architect and historian Neil Flanagan complained in the Atlantic this month.
From Slate • May 18, 2026
Not the hardware—which Jobs reluctantly abandoned because it cost too much and nobody wanted it—but the operating system, which proved to be as revolutionary as Jobs always claimed it would be.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 17, 2026
He had no memories other than being abandoned and alone on the human road.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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.
