- present participle of abide.
abiding
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of abiding
Explanation
Something abiding sticks around, lasting a long time. Abiding is usually used with feelings and memories — as in your abiding love for Elmo. Abiding comes from the Old English abidan, gebidan meaning "remain, wait, delay, remain behind." It's a word that's typically used to describe a feeling or memory that remains behind or lingers in your mind a while. You can have an abiding faith in God, or an abiding respect for war veterans or an abiding passion. "Law-abiding citizens" are those people who stick strictly to the law. They always use the crosswalk and pay their taxes on time.
Vocabulary lists containing abiding
The Things They Carried
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Black Boy
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Twelve Years a Slave
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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.
That title is something of a metaphor, about connecting to a deep, abiding spirituality accessible to us all.
From Salon ● Sep. 30, 2026
He’s also a man of abiding faith worn lightly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Regardless of what station they work for, reporters and pilots are constantly helping each other, abiding by unspoken rules to keep each other safe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
She paid tribute to the two officers who died in the A66 crash and said she recognised how "unnerving" the current climate would be for the "law abiding citizens" in the community.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
Lyra saw it not as abiding place but as a highway.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
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.
