abandonment

noun

aban·​don·​ment ə-ˈban-dən-mənt 

1

: the act of abandoning something or someone

In its family and social contexts, he argues, the abandonment of children was, if not a "good thing," at least the most feasible means of family limitation during the many centuries when other methods were largely ineffective or, in the case of Christians, prohibited.

—Mary Martin McLaughlin

2

: the state of being abandoned

fear of abandonment

The opulence of her life as an expat wife failed to soothe her feelings of abandonment, boredom and oppression.

—Bob Shacochis

—sometimes used before another noun

abandonment issues

Synonyms

• abandon
• ease
• lightheartedness
• naturalness
• spontaneity
• spontaneousness
• unconstraint
• uninhibitedness
• unrestraint

Examples of abandonment in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The President’s ultimatum earned him few immediate political points: Israel’s critics derided it as too little, too late; Israel’s supporters accused him of abandonment. —Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2024

That growing sense of abandonment by the world, Mr. Halevi says, has left Israelis defensive and uninterested in hearing legitimate critiques of Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza. —Howard Lafranchi, The Christian Science Monitor, 4 Apr. 2024

Their widespread abandonment of the practice, which was popular in both parties before 2020, means that Republican candidates are now far more at the mercy of Election Day problems like bad weather, long lines or voting machine hiccups. —Nick Corasaniti Caitlin O’Hara, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2024

Eden’s pregnancy forces her to confront her relationship to abandonment and heavy truths about her friendship with Dawn. —Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Mar. 2024

Those laws allow parents to surrender newborns to safe spaces such as hospitals and fire stations, placing the infant in a recipient’s arms, without risk of prosecution for abandonment. —Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 28 Feb. 2024

Johnson said that managing his pain over his father’s abandonment taught him how to project equanimity. —David D. Kirkpatrick, The New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2024

Facebook’s five-year-old News tab will be axed next month in the U.S. and Australia, continuing Meta’s abandonment of a news industry that came to rely on it for a great deal of traffic. —Alexandra Sternlicht, Fortune, 1 Mar. 2024

Moreover, some predict dire consequences if Washington’s abandonment of Ukraine serves to solidify a global perception that the U.S. is an exhausted and divided superpower that no longer stands by its word. —Howard Lafranchi, The Christian Science Monitor, 30 Jan. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1593, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing abandonment

• self-abandonment

Legal Definition

abandonment

noun

aban·​don·​ment

1

: the act of abandoning property or a right: as

a

: relinquishment by an inventor of the right to enforce a patent see also dedication

b

: an author's relinquishment to the public domain of his or her copyrighted work

c

: relinquishment of a trademark established by a failure to use the trademark and an intention never to resume use

d

: the act of an insured in surrendering all rights to damaged or lost property to an insurer as a total loss compare salvage sense 2b

e

: relinquishment by a trustee in bankruptcy of interest in property in the bankruptcy estate often for a nominal sum

2

: the act of abandoning a person: as

a

: failure to have contact with a spouse that is intended to create a permanent separation

b

: failure to communicate with or provide financial support for one's child over a period of time that shows a purpose to forgo parental duties and rights

3

: the act of abandoning a contract

4

a

: the act of abandoning a course of action (as a crime)

b

: the affirmative defense (as recognized under the Model Penal Code) of voluntary withdrawal from the commission of a crime resulting from the actor's change of heart and not from intervening circumstances