quit 1 of 2

1
as in to leave
to give up (a job or office) he decided to quit his job at the fast-food restaurant

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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as in to succumb
to cease resistance (as to another's arguments, demands, or control) tried to persuade his daughter to remain at home, but eventually he just quit and let her go out on her own

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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as in to pay
to give what is owed for eager to quit all debts before starting married life

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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quit

2 of 2

adjective

as in free
no longer burdened with something unpleasant or painful I am finally quit of that terrible task

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How is the word quit distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of quit are cease, desist, discontinue, and stop. While all these words mean "to suspend or cause to suspend activity," quit may stress either finality or abruptness in stopping or ceasing.

the engine faltered, sputtered, then quit altogether

When is it sensible to use cease instead of quit?

The words cease and quit are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, cease applies to states, conditions, or existence and may add a suggestion of gradualness and a degree of finality.

by nightfall the fighting had ceased

When is desist a more appropriate choice than quit?

While the synonyms desist and quit are close in meaning, desist implies forbearance or restraint as a motive for stopping or ceasing.

desisted from further efforts to persuade them

When would discontinue be a good substitute for quit?

While in some cases nearly identical to quit, discontinue applies to the stopping of an accustomed activity or practice.

we have discontinued the manufacture of that item

When could stop be used to replace quit?

In some situations, the words stop and quit are roughly equivalent. However, stop applies to action or progress or to what is operating or progressing and may imply suddenness or definiteness.

stopped at the red light

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 quit
Verb
One started just once more in his Notre Dame career (Buchner) and another quit the team the next week (Jones). Pete Sampson, New York Times, 18 June 2025 When wages lag, people often quit and search for better opportunities that can support the rising cost of living. Suzanne Blake, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 June 2025 Indeed, less than 24 hours before a man shot two Minnesota legislators and their spouses, killing one couple and critically injuring the other, the CP3 office reassigned the last of its senior advisors, said Bill Braniff, who used to lead the center but quit in protest in March. Will Carless, USA Today, 18 June 2025 So maybe employers pay extra to convince workers to not quit and to lower their turnover rates. Greg Rosalsky, NPR, 17 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for quit
Recent Examples of Synonyms for quit
Verb
  • However, LeMahieu's bat leaves plenty to be desired, his defense at second base is not the best and Chisholm is a better defender at second base than in the hot corner.
    Aaliyan Mohammed, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 June 2025
  • That left officials urging victims and survivors to come forward and work with authorities to ensure accountability.
    Laura Bauer, Kansas City Star, 23 June 2025
Verb
  • To add insult to injury, Pfizer abandoned its plan just a few years after the Kelo decision, just as its tax breaks were about to expire and after about $80 million of taxpayer money was spent, and the land remains a vacant lot all these years later.
    The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 22 June 2025
  • Another noted that the Post tried to become a national rival to The New York Times and failed — abandoning its identity as a regional and D.C. insider paper in the process.
    Andy Meek, Forbes.com, 21 June 2025
Verb
  • Without any consequences, this autocratic politician will continue to push the limits of his authority beyond the breaking point until someone forces him to stop.
    Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 29 June 2025
  • The state will become the second following Utah to stop public utilities from fluoridating water.
    Kairi Lowery, The Orlando Sentinel, 29 June 2025
Verb
  • Most of the resulting plants succumbed to rust; the few that made it were crossed with one another to produce the next generation.
    Elizabeth Kolbert, New Yorker, 23 June 2025
  • Don’t succumb to the urge to overfertilize, which leads to other problems. 4.
    Andy Wilcox, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 June 2025
Verb
  • Seven of the health facilities that Save the Children had supported in the region have fully closed, and 20 more have partly ceased operations.
    Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 24 June 2025
  • In 2021, Iran revealed its plan for taking enrichment from 20% to 60%, and soon afterward ceased to provide any further details on its fuel-making program.
    Scott Montgomery, Forbes.com, 23 June 2025
Verb
  • Penn Wharton also factors in the long-term fiscal impact of the debt the U.S. would likely have to issue to pay for the bill's tax cuts, the group said.
    Alain Sherter, CBS News, 26 June 2025
  • Finances also play a major factor, whether that’s paying for fertility treatments, reproductive procedures like IUI, surrogacy, or dealing with insurance—not to mention legal fees.
    Kara Nesvig, Parents, 26 June 2025
Verb
  • Over time, many of the drivers of their upside, from George Springer to Carlos Correa to Gerrit Cole to Justin Verlander to Tucker and Bregman, departed.
    Tony Blengino, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025
  • The criminal complaint alleges that she was captured on surveillance footage carrying a black backpack entering the locker room area, appearing to take a photo of the vicinity, and departing without the backpack.
    Mike Brest, The Washington Examiner, 1 July 2025
Verb
  • An aside: phosphorylation is when a tiny chemical group called a phosphate is added to a protein, such as tau, which is like adding a switch to change how the protein behaves.
    New Atlas, New Atlas, 30 June 2025
  • Yet, but Buyers Are Gaining Power For Hale, the recent shifts in the U.S. housing market signals that the country is moving in favor of buyers—and under certain aspects is already behaving more like a buyer's market than a seller's one.
    Giulia Carbonaro, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Quit.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quit. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.

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