1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

abnegating

verb

present participle of abnegate
1
as in relinquishing
to give up (as a position of authority) formally abnegated all claims to the deceased lord's domain

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in renouncing
to solemnly or formally reject or go back on (as something formerly adhered to) felt that if the Congress adopted these security measures, it would be abnegating the nation's fundamental commitment to individual rights

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for abnegating
  1. relinquishing
  2. renouncing
  3. abdicating
  4. withdrawing
  5. resigning
  6. retracting
  7. denying
Verb
  • Venus Venus will soon be relinquishing its dominance of the early evening sky.
    — Joe Rao, Space.com, 1 Sep. 2026
  • But that would have meant Parton relinquishing half the publishing rights and therefore half the royalties.
    — Jessica Guynn, USA Today, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of relinquishing
Verb
  • Eric Lai, a senior fellow with the Georgetown Center for Asian Law, said every actor in Hong Kong civil society who assumed that renouncing violence and working within the law would be fine has to revise that assumption.
    — Kanis Leung, Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2026
  • That starts with renouncing the use of military intervention as a first resort and ending the practice of diplomacy by airstrike.
    — MARC LYNCH, Foreign Affairs, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of renouncing
Verb
  • Despite everything, Harald never considered abdicating the throne.
    — Stefania Conrieri, Vanity Fair, 28 Aug. 2026
  • This is what the impeachment process was designed for, to remove public officials abdicating their responsibilities.
    — New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of abdicating
Verb
  • Van Aert’s victory extends his lead over Brennan to 65 points in the uncompetitive green jersey contest, with his only realistic rival, Lidl-Trek’s Mads Pedersen, withdrawing from the race earlier this week.
    — Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026
  • The council eventually agreed in May to delay implementation of the minimum wage increase by 18 months in exchange for the business coalition withdrawing the gross receipts measure.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of withdrawing
Verb
  • But airlines were furious, demanding that the head of NATS, Martin Rolfe, consider resigning after the second air traffic meltdown in three years.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 10 Sep. 2026
  • The company’s then-CEO and the chair’s younger brother, Fernando Zobel de Ayala, was resigning for health reasons, and the company needed a replacement.
    — Angelica Ang, Fortune, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of resigning
Verb
  • Vivo and Oppo phones have relied on various gimmicks, like smaller gimbals and pop-out lenses, to improve camera performance, though not to the extent of a physically retracting gimbal.
    — Florence Ion, PC Magazine, 12 Aug. 2026
  • The remote control has mixed reviews, with this seemingly retracting from its otherwise glowing reviews.
    — Tantse Walter, Space.com, 26 June 2026
Definition of retracting
Verb
  • The league also took a hard, public stance in the Brendan Sorsby situation by denying the former Texas Tech quarterback entry to the supplemental draft.
    — Saad Yousuf, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Amazon discriminated against pregnant warehouse employees by denying accommodations like bathroom breaks and the option to sit while working, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday by four women who worked for Amazon while pregnant.
    — Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of denying
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.

Browse Nearby Words

abnegates
abnegating
abnegation
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Abnegating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abnegating. Accessed 15 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of quorum

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
funny guinea pig in glasses reading a book
Challenging Words You Should Know Vol 2 Words to the wise
See All