abdication

noun

ab·​di·​ca·​tion ˌab-di-ˈkā-shən 

plural abdications

: an act of abdicating: such as

a

: an act of giving up sovereign power or high office

The desire of King Edward VIII to marry divorced U.S. socialite Wallis Simpson led to the king's abdication in 1936, an event that also brought Harry, his father Prince Charles and his brother, Prince William, into the line of succession.

—Martha Ross

From the advent of Alexander the Great, in 332 B.C., to the abdication of King Farouk, in 1952, the country was ruled without interruption by non-Egyptians.

—Milton Viorst

b

: an act of abandoning or discarding a right, responsibility, etc.

an abdication of authority

The militants took the liberties of Europe as a sign of moral and political abdication.

—Fouad Ajami

When the majority throws up its hands because the problems are too tough, that's simply an abdication of responsibility.

—Michael S. Serrill

Examples of abdication in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Those that do not will discover, perhaps abruptly, that trust without verification is simply abdication. —Zennon Kapron, Forbes.com, 23 Apr. 2025

Fordwich noted that abdication isn’t typically the norm for the British royal family. —Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 11 Apr. 2025

Related Articles Under Baker’s 17 years of control, there’s been a revolving door of senior leadership, flip-flopping strategies and the abdication of market share as well as some lucrative monetization of retail real estate. —David Moin, WWD, 24 Mar. 2025

This led to Russian Czar Alexander's abdication four days later and helped pave the way for women to gain the right to vote in Russia. —William Lambers, Newsweek, 8 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1571, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for abdication

• aberration
• abjuration
• abnegation
• abrogation
• acceptation
• acclamation
• acclimation
• accusation
• activation
• actuation
• acylation
• adaptation