cancel

verb

ˈkan(t)-səl How to pronounce cancel (audio)
Definition of cancelnext
1
as in to abandon
to put an end to (something planned or previously agreed to) please call to cancel your appointment with the dentist if you can't make it

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2
as in to abolish
to put an end to by formal action the agreement can be canceled by either side with a formal written notice

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to delete
to show (something written) to be no longer valid by drawing a cross over or a line through it canceled the check and wrote a new one

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4
as in to erase
to destroy all traces of it seemed as though all honor and decency had been canceled by the war's new moral order

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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 cancel The government also canceled the drone flight permits for the Chinese DJI drones for a week before protests from Mount Everest expedition operators prompted the official go-ahead for flights to resume. — Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 10 Sep. 2026 As the country came to a standstill, all filming at the studio was canceled. — Dan Heching, CNN Money, 10 Sep. 2026 The singer revealed the condition to fans three months later after canceling the rest of his planned gigs. — Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 10 Sep. 2026 Thousands of students had their classes canceled this week in Springfield, Massachusetts, after the school board's computer systems were hit with a cyberattack, officials said. — Ivan Pereira, ABC News, 10 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for cancel
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cancel
  1. abandon
  2. abolish
  3. delete
  4. erase
  5. revoke
  6. repeal
  7. eradicate
  8. abort
Verb
  • To reach the quarterfinals in New York, Zheng had to accept her newfound station in tennis — not to abandon her confidence for the sake of humility, but to combine her natural self-belief with acceptance of her reality and a new perspective.
    — Ava Wallace, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Masson credited the town’s surveillance cameras with capturing the fleeing pair abandoning at least one of the paintings and the city’s police force with a quick response.
    — News Desk, Artforum, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of abandon
Verb
  • Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton is vowing to abolish California’s DMV and cap annual vehicle registration at $73, framing the proposal as a strike against soaring living costs.
    — Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Karishma Manzur, a medical scientist and first-time candidate, supported Medicare for All and abolishing ICE while declining money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.
    — Phillip M. Bailey, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of abolish
Verb
  • When the site’s moderator began deleting pages in June, the agents responded by creating backup pages to dodge the cleanup.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Loughlin had deleted her Instagram account on March 12, 2019, the day the news broke.
    — Ingrid Vasquez, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of delete
Verb
  • These benefits and opportunities are currently under threat of being dismantled and erased by Belgium’s current right-wing government.
    — Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 11 Sep. 2026
  • And many may be counting on the step-up in basis after death to erase the tax.
    — Robert Frank, CNBC, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of erase
Verb
  • The Clippers, meanwhile, were hit with a $30 million fine, had five first-round draft picks revoked, saw Ballmer suspended for a year, and (in addition to Frank) longtime business president Gillian Zucker suspended for a year without pay.
    — Law Murray, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Under state law, educators who abandon their contracts after a deadline of 45 calendar days before the start of school could be subject to penalties, including potentially having their teaching certification revoked for one year.
    — Maven Navarro, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of revoke
Verb
  • In 2025 DeSantis pushed lawmakers to repeal a 2014 law offering qualified undocumented immigrants entering universities in-state tuition rates.
    — Ana Goñi-Lessan, Miami Herald, 4 Sep. 2026
  • That same month, the Pentagon moved to repeal the Stripes regulations that protected the outlet’s editorial independence.
    — Liam Reilly, CNN Money, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of repeal
Verb
  • The team has eradicated every invasive casuarina pine, the Australian import whose needles poison the native plants beneath it, along with invasive sea grapes that chew up the dunes.
    — Sydney Lake, Fortune, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Screwworm had been considered eradicated from the US, Mexico and most of Central America decades ago.
    — Jen Christensen, CNN Money, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of eradicate
Verb
  • The production of some vaccines involves growing viruses in human cell cultures from two fetuses aborted in the 1960s, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
    — Finch Walker, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Teenage e-bikers on an Oakland County airport runway last week forced a pilot to abort his landing, taking the potential perils of e-bike misuse to a whole new level.
    — Susan Bromley, Freep.com, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of abort

Phrases Containing cancel

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Cite this Entry

“Cancel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cancel. Accessed 13 Sep. 2026.

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