as in neglect
lack of use
despite the long years of desuetude, the old manual typewriter seemed to work just fine
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Recent Examples of desuetude
Instead of working alone, Mahama shares his process through these organizations, offering Ghana’s people the chance to rebuild after a period of desuetude.
—
Edna Bonhomme, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2025
New England travel writer and physician Jonathan Brown visited Sans-Souci in the 1830s, long after the king’s suicide in 1820, when the palace had been completely pillaged and had fallen into utter desuetude.
—Marlene Daut, Harper's BAZAAR, 8 Oct. 2021
Some passengers, however, seem to have moved beyond our technological limitations to a conceptual world where human drivers have fallen into desuetude.
—Peter Jakubowicz, Wired, 4 Sep. 2021
This Customs guidance has gone entirely unenforced for decades, but it was reissued — perhaps to keep it from desuetude — by the Obama administration in its final years.
—Eugene Kontorovich, Washington Post, 17 July 2017
Glenn Close returns to the role of Norma Desmond in the 1993 Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, based on Billy Wilder’s classic portrait of Hollywood desuetude.
—The New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2017
Edna Bonhomme, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2025
New England travel writer and physician Jonathan Brown visited Sans-Souci in the 1830s, long after the king’s suicide in 1820, when the palace had been completely pillaged and had fallen into utter desuetude.
—Marlene Daut, Harper's BAZAAR, 8 Oct. 2021
Some passengers, however, seem to have moved beyond our technological limitations to a conceptual world where human drivers have fallen into desuetude.
—Peter Jakubowicz, Wired, 4 Sep. 2021
This Customs guidance has gone entirely unenforced for decades, but it was reissued — perhaps to keep it from desuetude — by the Obama administration in its final years.
—Eugene Kontorovich, Washington Post, 17 July 2017
Glenn Close returns to the role of Norma Desmond in the 1993 Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, based on Billy Wilder’s classic portrait of Hollywood desuetude.
—The New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desuetude
Noun
-
Parker will appear in criminal court The civil verdict against Parker — who faces eight counts of felony child neglect in a criminal trial next month — provides a window into key evidence and arguments that will likely resurface when Parker appears in criminal court.—
Cindy Von Quednow,
CNN Money,
6 Nov. 2025
-
In a separate legal matter, Parker is facing criminal charges of felony child abuse and neglect for her alleged indifference.—
Gary Grumbach,
NBC news,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
As the demand for Ghana’s goods decreased, so did the need for the industrial railway line, leading to its disuse.—
Edna Bonhomme,
Artforum,
1 Oct. 2025
-
The muscles in his arms started to atrophy from disuse.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Advertisement Mamdani’s vision of an equitable, affordable urbanity emerges as a challenge to this long history of abandonment and exclusion.—
Fahad Zuberi,
Time,
5 Nov. 2025
-
Cue, Helm’s first rejection, abandonment, difficult emotions.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Desuetude.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desuetude. Accessed 9 Nov. 2025.
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