Synonyms of abjure

abjure

verb

ab-ˈju̇r 

1

as in to renounce

to solemnly or formally reject or go back on (as something formerly adhered to)

abjured some long-held beliefs when she converted to another religion

Synonyms & Similar Words

• renounce
• withdraw
• retract
• deny
• forswear
• contradict
• abandon
• recant
• relinquish
• refute
• foreswear
• repeal
• repudiate
• renege
• take back
• abnegate
• unsay
• forsake
• disavow
• spurn
• disown
• gainsay
• recall
• disclaim
• revoke
• controvert
• negate
• disprove
• surrender
• disagree (with)
• rebut
• dispute
• negative
• back down
• disallow
• give up
• back off
• backtrack
• bolt

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• maintain
• admit
• adhere (to)
• acknowledge
• affirm
• declare
• assert
• claim
• contend
• proclaim
• state
• profess
• defend
• support
• accept
• endorse
• confirm
• adopt
• uphold
• avow
• vow
• embrace
• back
• vouch
• indorse
• espouse

2

as in to avoid

to resist the temptation of

a strict religious sect that abjures the luxuries, comforts, and conveniences of the modern world

Synonyms & Similar Words

• avoid
• forego
• keep (from)
• deny
• refrain (from)
• forgo
• withhold (from)
• forbear
• abstain (from)
• refuse
• shun
• eschew
• curb
• reject
• constrain
• inhibit
• repudiate
• check
• combat
• fight
• buck

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• submit (to)
• yield (to)
• surrender (to)
• bow (to)
• succumb (to)
• give in (to)
• capitulate
• concede (to)
• acquiesce (to)
• knuckle under (to)

Synonym Chooser

How is the word abjure different from other verbs like it?

Some common synonyms of abjure are forswear, recant, renounce, and retract. While all these words mean "to withdraw one's word or professed belief," abjure implies a firm and final rejecting or abandoning often made under oath.

abjured the errors of his former faith

When would forswear be a good substitute for abjure?

In some situations, the words forswear and abjure are roughly equivalent. However, forswear may add an implication of perjury or betrayal.

I cannot forswear my principles

When is recant a more appropriate choice than abjure?

The synonyms recant and abjure are sometimes interchangeable, but recant stresses the withdrawing or denying of something professed or taught.

if they recant they will be spared

When can renounce be used instead of abjure?

Although the words renounce and abjure have much in common, renounce may carry the meaning of disclaim or disown.

renounced abstract art and turned to portrait painting

When could retract be used to replace abjure?

The words retract and abjure can be used in similar contexts, but retract applies to the withdrawing of a promise, an offer, or an accusation.

the newspaper had to retract the story

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of abjure

In the end, de Hales agreed to abjure the realm, which meant walking, barefoot, to the port of Chester, a hundred and thirty miles away, holding a wooden cross and wearing sackcloth, and taking a ship across the Irish Sea, never to return. —Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2024

Elite progressive educational institutions were unlikely to experience a radical moral epiphany the moment the Supreme Court made its ruling, and abjure their discriminatory impulses and racial fixations. —The Editors, National Review, 8 Aug. 2023

This scenario—the Russian nationalist who abjures the war—is Ukraine’s quickest path to some sort of victory. —Foreign Affairs, 24 June 2023

But as a philosophical tradition, pragmatism makes no normative claims about what is worth doing and what is not, what is desirable and what is to be abjured. —Mark Edmundson, Harper's Magazine, 12 Dec. 2022

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!