abandonment
Americannoun
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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.
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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.
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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
Etymology
Origin of abandonment
Explanation
Abandonment is the act of getting rid of something. It’s how dogs become stray and children become orphaned. If abandonment is your greatest fear in life, make sure to surround yourself with loyal friends and treat them kindly. Abandonment, a noun meaning "relinquishment," stems from the French abandonnement and was first recorded in the early 17th century. "Life, misfortunes, isolation, abandonment, poverty, are battlefields which have their heroes; obscure heroes, sometimes greater than the illustrious heroes," said Victor Hugo. He treats a person's survival of abandonment with the utmost respect, perhaps more than that accorded survival of war or other more obvious trials.
Vocabulary lists containing abandonment
Small as an Elephant
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Novel Study: Walden, "Solitude"–"House-Warming"
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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.
But urbanisation, changing land use and the abandonment of grazing and other traditional farming practises, appear to have significantly reduced available food sources, the wildlife groups noted.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026
There is a slight chance of a claim under missed departure, or delay or abandonment, cover.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
We both wrestled with trying to find agency inside of moments in our adult lives that felt like abandonment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
New toy: Lotso, a stuffed bear with abandonment issues.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
Maggie’s dramatic romance and abandonment of mediumship made for great copy.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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.
