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
-
Trying to use last minute overirrigation to make up for a season of neglect — well, that’s not a recipe for anything overly spectacular.—
Paul Cappiello,
Louisville Courier Journal,
3 Oct. 2025
-
Youth who are committed to a detention center are more likely than other juveniles to have suffered abuse and neglect, and strip searches can retraumatize them.—
Shelly Bradbury,
Denver Post,
30 Sep. 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
-
The investigation into the baby's abandonment is ongoing, with police asking anyone with information to come forward.—
Becca Longmire,
PEOPLE,
29 Sep. 2025
-
Beneath her white coat and calm demeanor lived a woman weathered by trauma, grief, and emotional abandonment.—
Connie Etemadi,
USA Today,
26 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Desuetude.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desuetude. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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