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. )

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.

Example Sentences

But what looks to some like abandonment feels to others like a new beginning – and that makes me excited to see how high the women in “Rooster” might fly in coming semesters.

From Salon • May 11, 2026

The judges said the court received a notice of abandonment of appeal signed by Tarrant using a "self-styled moniker" but the document was thrown out because it was not dated or witnessed.

From Barron's • Apr. 30, 2026

So going back nearly 60 years, the late Mr. Flint has been left to quietly suffer the indignities of desecration and abandonment, but for temporary intervention.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2026

The administrative-law judge ultimately denied Sleca’s petition for abandonment.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

As we cross over the freeway, the same cars are still on the roadway below, and now there’s clear evidence of abandonment.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Related Words

• renunciation