as in abandonment
the act of abandoning the soldiers were imprisoned for desertion of their posts

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 desertion It has been used to punish mutinies and desertion in armies, as frontier justice in America's Old West and as a tool of terror and political repression in the former Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Arkansas Online, 12 Apr. 2025 They were charged with desertion of a child and abandonment of an animal. Liam Quinn, People.com, 8 Apr. 2025 The true reason of growing desertions lays in low morale and patriotism of recent conscripts who never wanted to defend their homeland and were caught and forced to do that. Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 25 Jan. 2025 Large-scale desertions among Russian conscripts might follow. Andrew F. Krepinevich, Foreign Affairs, 22 Nov. 2022 See All Example Sentences for desertion
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desertion
abandonment
Noun
  • In some cases, that can be attributed to egregious abandonment or benign neglect.
    Justin Worland, Time, 10 Oct. 2025
  • Former Uvalde school district police chief Pete Arredondo, who was the on-site commander at Robb Elementary School on the day of the shooting, and former school officer Adrian Gonzales, were charged in June 2024 with multiple counts of child endangerment and abandonment.
    Megan Forrester, ABC News, 10 Oct. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Desertion.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desertion. Accessed 22 Oct. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on desertion

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!