abiding
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- abidingly adverb
- abidingness noun
- nonabiding adjective
- nonabidingly adverb
- nonabidingness noun
- unabiding adjective
- unabidingly adverb
- unabidingness noun
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.
The abiding memory of Ramsey will not be the frustrating final chapter of his career but the body of work that came before it.
From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026
That is, living in your home and abiding by your rules, and going to college with your financial help.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 26, 2026
Yet Kornyev, too, has an abiding faith in their new nation.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026
The commission said the EU is still abiding by the accord and expected the United States to show the same commitment.
From Barron's • Mar. 12, 2026
Nothing survives but an abiding sense of being elsewhere.
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
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.
