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
-
The Texas Department of Public Safety said on Tuesday that the Texas Rangers are assisting the Department of State Health and Services (DSHS) in an investigation regarding complaints of neglect by the camp during the floods.—
S.E. Jenkins,
CBS News,
7 Apr. 2026
-
In 2019, filmmakers gained rare access to document a revival meeting inside an Alabama prison, leading to a six-year investigation into the state’s deadly prison system, characterized by corruption, violence, and neglect.—
Brande Victorian,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Heart muscles atrophy, or weaken from disuse, in adults who spend prolonged times in the weightlessness of space.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 Feb. 2026
-
And does a particular level of disuse have to be reached for a word to be dropped into the lexical dustbin?—
Louis Menand,
New Yorker,
22 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan said threats and harassment were partially to blame for the City Council’s abandonment of plans to create a homeless shelter near the trendy SoDo neighborhood last year.—
Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board,
The Orlando Sentinel,
8 Apr. 2026
-
Oversight falls to the California Geologic Energy Management Division, which enforces detailed standards for access to the well, wellbore integrity, and abandonment under state law.—
Tim Rathmann,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Desuetude.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desuetude. Accessed 10 Apr. 2026.
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