abandon
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to leave completely and finally; forsake utterly; desert.
The crew finally abandoned the sinking ship and boarded a lifeboat.
He abandoned his wife and children, leaving them in poverty.
- Antonyms:
- keep
-
to give up; withdraw from; discontinue.
She had to abandon the research project when the grant money dried up.
I’ve abandoned all hope of a stage career.
-
to give up the control of.
After a long struggle, they abandoned the city to the invading army.
- Antonyms:
- retain
-
to yield (oneself) without restraint or moderation; give (oneself) over to natural impulses, usually without self-control.
After the breakup, he fell apart and abandoned himself to grief.
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Law. to cast away, leave, or desert, as property or a child.
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Insurance. to relinquish (insured property) to the underwriter in case of partial loss, thus enabling the insured to claim a total loss.
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Obsolete. to banish.
noun
verb
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to forsake completely; desert; leave behind
to abandon a baby
drivers had to abandon their cars
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the order given to the crew of a ship that is about to sink to take to the lifeboats
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to give up completely
to abandon a habit
to abandon hope
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to yield control of or concern in; relinquish
to abandon office
-
to give up (something begun) before completion
to abandon a job
the game was abandoned
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to surrender (oneself) to emotion without restraint
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to give (insured property that has suffered partial loss or damage) to the insurers in order that a claim for a total loss may be made
noun
Synonym Usage
See desert 2. Abandon, relinquish, renounce mean to give up all concern in something. Abandon means to give up or discontinue any further interest in something because of discouragement, weariness, distaste, or the like: to abandon one's efforts. Relinquish implies being or feeling compelled to give up something one would prefer to keep: to relinquish a long-cherished desire. Renounce implies making (and perhaps formally stating) a voluntary decision to give something up: to renounce worldly pleasures.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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abandonsimple
-
abandonssimple
-
have abandonedperfect
-
has abandonedperfect
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am abandoningprogressive
-
are abandoningprogressive
-
is abandoningprogressive
-
have been abandoningperfect progressive
-
has been abandoningperfect progressive
Past
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abandonedsimple
-
had abandonedperfect
-
was abandoningprogressive
-
were abandoningprogressive
-
had been abandoningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of abandon
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English verb abando(u)nen, from Middle French abandoner, from Old French (mettre) a bandon “(put) under (someone's) jurisdiction,” equivalent to a “at, to” (from Latin ad; see ad-) + bandon, from Germanic band (unrecorded); see bond 1; noun derivative of the verb
Explanation
To abandon something is to give it up completely. If you’re in a cabin and a forest fire approaches, you’d better get in your car and abandon your cabin, or else be prepared to abandon your life. If you abandon something, you let it go, so when you describe someone as "acting with abandon," it means they have let go of restrictions or inhibitions. Maybe you like to dance with abandon in the privacy of your own room. But abandon could also mean people have abandoned their senses. To "drive with abandon," for example, means to drive recklessly.
Vocabulary lists containing abandon
Vocabulary from the Introduction to "Reality is Broken" by Jane McGonigal
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"The Perils of Indifference," Vocabulary from the speech
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"The Story of an Hour"
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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:
Roughly half of the crew descended onto a life raft, ready to abandon the ship.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
As the eldest child, he also felt he couldn't risk his life and abandon his family.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
Rubio was forced to abandon the race after being given 20 stitches in hospital.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
When temperatures rise, the females abandon their pups to hunt for food, he explained.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
Other board games, such as Trouble and Sorry, were also problematic: If a touch of bad luck stymied his plans, he became angry and would abandon the game.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Even if Warsh’s Fed abandons that level of transparency, the minutes will still be useful for investors, according to Englander.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
She abandons her academic and career ambitions, takes a job as a court interpreter, and marries Michael, an affable nurse who has little idea of her emotional burdens.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026
"No farming community abandons fields and homes lightly," says archaeologist and co-first author Ramiro Barberena, a researcher at CONICET.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 21, 2026
"If the US abandons its standards, we aren't 'saving' the American auto industry; we are leaving it on an island of obsolete technology," Oge wrote in Forbes.
From BBC ● Feb. 13, 2026
But soon enough, he abandons that role for his true and faithful calling: needing to pee.
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
Santenello has over 4 million subscribers on YouTube, where he posts videos about every kind of place in America — rich and poor, renowned and hidden, busy and abandoned.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
“Offices aren’t being abandoned; they’re actually just being redefined,” said Paul Morgan, global chief operating officer of real estate management services at brokerage JLL.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
"Bodies were simply abandoned for nature to take its course. None were kept in a dignified manner."
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Net profit in the April-June period slumped 70 percent to £435 million compared with the 2025 second quarter after the company abandoned a chronic cough treatment, GSK said in an earnings statement.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
“I checked the occult bookstores, the spooky carnivals, the abandoned cemeteries, and all the obscure and little-trafficked corners of the city. Nothing!”
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
"AWS and Amazon can have a wildly successful business without its own frontier model," Jassy said on Thursday, but he denied it was abandoning the effort.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
That doesn't necessarily mean abandoning it but it needs to be refined more so its purpose is immediately understandable, she says.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
The research doesn’t suggest abandoning the traditional 70% to 80% income-replacement rule.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
The process has never been tested, and right now former state Rep. Charles Booker, a Democrat, and GOP Rep. Andy Barr are squaring off for the seat McConnell is abandoning.
From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2026
“Looking for a gift for Diego, thinking about Diego, imagining that we might have a future together. Even if the world doesn’t end, he’d still end up abandoning me.”
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
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.
