abolish
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Synonym Usage
Abolish, eradicate, stamp out mean to do away completely with something. To abolish is to cause to cease, often by a summary order: to abolish a requirement. Stamp out implies forcibly making an end to something considered undesirable or harmful: to stamp out the opium traffic. Eradicate (literally, to tear out by the roots ), a formal word, suggests extirpation, leaving no vestige or trace: to eradicate all use of child labor.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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abolishernoun
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abolishmentnoun
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abolishableadjective
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unabolishableadjective
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unabolishedadjective
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well-abolishedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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abolishsimple
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abolishessimple
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have abolishedperfect
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has abolishedperfect
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am abolishingprogressive
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are abolishingprogressive
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is abolishingprogressive
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have been abolishingperfect progressive
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has been abolishingperfect progressive
Past
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abolishedsimple
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had abolishedperfect
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was abolishingprogressive
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were abolishingprogressive
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had been abolishingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of abolish
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Middle French aboliss-, long stem of abolir, from Latin abolēre “to destroy, efface”
Explanation
To abolish is to get rid of or annul. So when the principal yells at you for the 100th time for not having your shirt tucked in, it's safe to wish they'd just abolish the silly dress code. The word abolish might stir up some historical connotations, since in the U.S. it's commonly associated with bringing an end to slavery. In fact, those who opposed slavery were called "abolitionists." The word comes to us from the Latin word abolere, meaning "to destroy or cause to die out." These days abolish is used to bring a final and official-sounding end to laws, codes, and unsavory practices.
Vocabulary lists containing abolish
The Declaration of Independence
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Life Is So Good
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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.
See Examples For:
The country's biggest union, Unia, also warned the initiative would weaken labour protections, abolish rules barring discrimination between resident and foreign employees and "open the door wide to wage dumping".
From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026
The party says it would abolish business rates for pubs to drive footfall to High Streets, with further policies set to be announced in due course.
From BBC ● May 2, 2026
And some lawmakers in North Carolina seek to follow suit: A bill introduced in the state Senate last spring seeks to abolish both homewrecker laws.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 18, 2026
There was no urgent need to redefine the purpose and character of a museum, to abolish more than two centuries of acquired knowledge and start again.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
Furthermore, Article 20 states, “All Germans have the right to resist any person seeking to abolish the constitutional order, should no other remedy be possible.”
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
The new version of the constitution also declares Uzbekistan a "social state" with increased welfare obligations, abolishes death penalty, establishes greater personal legal protection, and allows non-farming land ownership.
From Reuters ● Apr. 27, 2023
Musk creates an “official” label for high-profile Twitter accounts, and abolishes it hours later.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 19, 2022
Another new Maryland law abolishes life without parole sentences for juveniles, making Maryland law consistent with statutes enacted in the District and about 20 states.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 30, 2021
The new law erodes the effects of single family zoning, he said, "but it in no way overrides or abolishes it."
From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2021
New Hampshire Legislature abolishes all the courts of the State, i.
From The Second War with England, Vol. 2 of 2 by Headley, Joel Tyler
Following a number of other controversial executions and a series of miscarriages of justice it was permanently abolished for murder in 1969.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
In the years that followed, the American people abolished slavery, amended a constitution that had accommodated it, expanded civil and political rights that had long been denied to millions, and became a great multiethnic democracy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
France abolished enslaving humans more than 170 years ago, and in 2001 recognised slavery and the slave trade as "crimes against humanity".
From Barron's ● May 28, 2026
Ground rents were abolished for most new residential leasehold properties in England and Wales in 2022 under the previous Conservative government, but remained for existing leasehold homes.
From BBC ● May 26, 2026
The Constitution of the United States, only recently ratified, specifically prohibited the Congress from passing any law that abolished or restricted the slave trade until 1808.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
An amendment abolishing slavery was passed by Congress in January 1865.
From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026
He also infuriated colleagues in the coalition government, the British press reported, proposing a stream of unconventional ideas: scrapping maternity leave, abolishing job centers, even buying cloud-bursting technology so Britain would have more sunshine.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026
On Sunday, a federal judge in Baton Rouge granted Duncan’s request for a temporary restraining order, declaring the bill abolishing the criminal court clerk position to be unconstitutional.
From Slate ● May 5, 2026
Britain transported an estimated three million African people across the Atlantic before abolishing the practice in the early 1800s.
From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2026
After the meeting, a network of two thousand women set off on a nationwide mission to collect signatures on a petition urging Congress to pass the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
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.
