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
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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
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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:
It describes someone who wants closeness, but worries that people in their life will eventually reject or abandon them.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
When temperatures rise, the females abandon their pups to hunt for food, he explained.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
Yet no sooner had Mr. Burnham proposed the idea than he had to abandon it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Such developments aren’t, however, reasons to abandon liberal politics, because protection of religious liberty is still a blessing for the nation’s churches.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
They had no choice but to abandon their mission.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
He abandons Lily to social, financial and bodily ruin—an end that feels as inevitable as the downfall of Antigone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
Unless the Fed abandons that risk-management framework, focusing on a narrower inflation measure would not materially change policy if inflation risks are skewed one way or another.
From MarketWatch ● May 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
It may slip off treacherously, but its keeper never abandons it.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
While they aren’t angry about the coyotes, residents say they want the city to do something about the abandoned site.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Her white Ford Fiesta was later found abandoned nearby but there was no trace of the estate agent.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Masino abandoned many elements of her strategy following the widespread backlash, and her last earnings report sent Cracker Barrel’s shares up sharply.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
With their dated decor, hotel-like hallways, overhead ceiling tiles and abandoned office spaces, the Backrooms resemble the overlooked non-places of modern life – spaces many people recognize but rarely notice.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
Meantime, the abandoned Investigator sank beneath the ice.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
But he was found not guilty of criminal damage - the charge that related to abandoning the carcasses.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 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
For now, many of the Silverado families are trying to figure out their next steps — and aren’t abandoning hope that something can be done to save the care home.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
Franklin was leaving King’s College to take up a new job at Birkbeck College, and Wilkins thought that she was abandoning the DNA project.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
