as in to stop
to bring (as an action or operation) to an immediate end
ordered to desist from using the copyrighted music without permission
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desist (from)
Verb
-
Asking the engineers to stop designing a firing squad chamber for the state of Idaho to execute death-row prisoners.—
Sally Krutzig,
Idaho Statesman,
1 Apr. 2026 -
The Yankees went a perfect 5-for-5 with ABS challenges in Monday’s 2-1 walk-off loss to the Mariners, but that didn’t stop Boone and company from barking at home plate umpire Mike Estabrook.—
Gary Phillips,
New York Daily News,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Under the emergency order, the school must immediately cease operations and may not provide massage education services in Texas unless otherwise authorized.—
S.E. Jenkins,
CBS News,
31 Mar. 2026
-
Your intelligence, your generosity, your courage, and your great sensitivity never cease to move me.—
Yi-Jin Yu,
ABC News,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Krispy Kreme and McDonald’s also jointly ended their partnership in July 2025 after finding the venture financially unsustainable, leading to over $50 million in charges for the doughnut company.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
26 Mar. 2026
-
Copper fell along with other base metals as investors monitored the uncertainty surrounding US-Iran negotiations to possibly end the war.—
Bloomberg,
Bloomberg,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The people killed were the latest fatalities among Palestinians in the coastal enclave since an October ceasefire deal attempted to halt a more than two-year war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
29 Mar. 2026
-
Brandon Miller hit five 3-pointers and finished with 29 points and eight rebounds for Charlotte, which had its five-game winning streak halted.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
28 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Nearly 500 of the agency’s approximately 50,000 officers have quit since the partial shutdown started, the department said.—
John Raby,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Mar. 2026
-
Multiple airports have been experiencing greater than 40% callout rates of TSA workers, and nearly 500 of the agency’s nearly 50,000 transportation security officers have quit during the shutdown.—
Kevin Freking,
Fortune,
28 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Content aggregator Digg, which was in beta ahead of its comeback, was recently forced to pause operations and lay off staff in response to the horde of bots on its platform.—
Will McCurdy,
PC Magazine,
22 Mar. 2026
-
The Office of Personnel Management has just taken a sensible step to deal with the problem by proposing that federal agencies lay off their lowest performers first.—
Editorial Board,
Washington Post,
9 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The perch is a little too small for bigger birds like mourning doves, and my voracious flock of starlings is often cut off.—
Jim Fisher,
PC Magazine,
31 Mar. 2026
-
Resistance is likely to be strongest among European governments, still shocked by Beijing’s threats last year to cut off supplies of rare earths — essential for clean tech — and worried about further hollowing out their own green industries.—
Andy Browne,
semafor.com,
31 Mar. 2026
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.
Cite this Entry
“Desist (from).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desist%20%28from%29. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
