abandonment

American  

[uh-ban-duhn-muhnt] / əˈbæn dən mənt /

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.

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Other Word Forms

• nonabandonment noun

Etymology

Origin of abandonment

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

Example Sentences

Feelings of frustration and abandonment among Australia's Muslim community were made clear on Friday, when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke came to Lakemba mosque to mark the end of Ramadan.

From BBC

“Through abandonment,” Mr. Stuart writes, “the Maya were trying to adapt to a rapidly changing world.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Murphy said that was “both a technical, procedural failure itself and a strong indication of something more fundamentally problematic: an abandonment of the technical knowledge and expertise embodied by that committee.”

From The Wall Street Journal

The volunteers faced charges, including “abandonment of property” and felony harboring, though the convictions for some were later overturned.

From Los Angeles Times

Also on the list—and quite frankly, at the top of the list—was abandonment.

From Literature

Related Words

• renunciation