1
as in to indulge
to give (oneself) over to something especially unrestrainedly
more than ready to abandon himself to a life of complete idleness for the duration of his vacation
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to leave
to cause to remain behind
abandoned the group that he had been hiking with and struck out on his own
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to cancel
to put an end to (something planned or previously agreed to)
the bad weather forced NASA to abandon the launch
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in to discontinue
to stop doing (something) permanently
marriage customs that were abandoned decades ago
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in abandonment
carefree freedom from constraint
added spices to the stew with complete abandon
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of abandon
Alana Semuels, Time, 8 Oct. 2025
To double down on brute force and exclusion is to abandon the foundations of durable strength.
—Loree Sutton, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Oct. 2025
Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 4 Sep. 2025
Naomi is a textbook Jewish mother, nagging and cajoling and smothering her children with logorrheic abandon.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 22 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for abandon
Verb
Still, for many, baby boxes are not a reminder of a tragedy for a woman who carried a baby, gave birth alone, and then abandoned that child.
—Alana Semuels, Time, 8 Oct. 2025
To double down on brute force and exclusion is to abandon the foundations of durable strength.
—Loree Sutton, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Oct. 2025
Noun
Soft-spoken and unrelenting, Alboury emerges as the only moral voice in a land of postcolonial abandon, refusing to let Cal get away with what may be homicide, while disrupting Horn’s romantic first night with Leonie.
—Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 4 Sep. 2025
Naomi is a textbook Jewish mother, nagging and cajoling and smothering her children with logorrheic abandon.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 22 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for abandon
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abandon
Verb
-
The other people Ye tries to big-foot into indulging his perverse Peter Pan complex fare more poorly.—
Derek Robertson,
The Washington Examiner,
10 Oct. 2025
-
Whether that’s indulging Wes Anderson’s imagination (as a three-time member of his ever-growing ensemble) or producing her own projects, Johansson always manages to surprise.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
9 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
In analyzing dozens of hours of audio and video footage of public and private speaking events for McMahon’s appointees, as well as their writings, ProPublica found that a recurring theme is the desire to enable more families to leave public schools.—
Megan O’Matz,
ProPublica,
8 Oct. 2025
-
Varying injuries suffered by Richard Fitts, Hunter Dobbins, Kutter Crawford and Tanner Houck leave several starters in flux entering the offseason, while rookies Connelly Early and Payton Tolle pitched well at the end of the season.—
Jen McCaffrey,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
But our flights had been canceled amid rocket fire and regional escalation, fallout from Israel’s latest offensive in Gaza and its war with Iran.—
Reem Kassis,
The Atlantic,
11 Oct. 2025
-
Despite Spapens’ declaration that the Disturbed concert is canceled, tickets for the gig are still listed on Live Nation, as well as still included on the band’s tour website.—
Daniel Kreps,
Rolling Stone,
11 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The sessions will take place as the IDFA Forum discontinues the conventional post-pitch feedback format.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
8 Oct. 2025
-
Fans have reported across social media that the wholesale retailer has a new cake that is not unlike a fan-favorite dessert discontinued five years ago.—
Sabrina Weiss,
PEOPLE,
8 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
In 1983, a report estimated that, since 1970, New York City had lost approximately three hundred and ten thousand apartments to abandonment or demolition—many were burned.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
6 Oct. 2025
-
For Grimsley, the deeper wound is the apparent abandonment of long-standing bipartisan commitments.—
Robert Alexander,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
In a recent speech, Kim urged Washington to drop its demand for the North to surrender its nukes as a precondition for resuming diplomacy.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
12 Oct. 2025
-
The 82 total yards the Broncos surrendered Sunday?—
Nick Kosmider,
New York Times,
12 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The drama is set in the mid-1990s and follows a pivotal day in the life of Murphy’s eponymous character and his students amidst a world that has forsaken them.—
Nancy Tartaglione,
Deadline,
8 Oct. 2025
-
But for the past few decades the message to young people was to urge them to forsake manual labor jobs for a college degree.—
Jamie L. LaReau,
Freep.com,
3 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
And yet, the agency’s human-resources office—which handled ethics issues—has been scrapped, according to Alt CDC, a team of anonymous public-health officials that has been crowdsourcing updates on the firings.—
Tom Bartlett,
The Atlantic,
13 Oct. 2025
-
The main channel scrapped music videos back in 2011 and instead pushed those out to its sister channel.—
Marni Rose McFall,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Abandon.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abandon. Accessed 14 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share