abandon
Americanverb (used with object)
-
abandons,
present (3rd person singular)
-
abandoned,
past participle, past
-
abandoning
present participle
-
to leave completely and finally; forsake utterly; desert.
The crew finally abandoned the sinking ship and boarded a lifeboat.
He abandoned his wife and children, leaving them in poverty.
- Antonyms:
- keep
-
to give up; withdraw from; discontinue.
She had to abandon the research project when the grant money dried up.
I’ve abandoned all hope of a stage career.
-
to give up the control of.
After a long struggle, they abandoned the city to the invading army.
- Antonyms:
- retain
-
to yield (oneself) without restraint or moderation; give (oneself) over to natural impulses, usually without self-control.
After the breakup, he fell apart and abandoned himself to grief.
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Law. to cast away, leave, or desert, as property or a child.
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Insurance. to relinquish (insured property) to the underwriter in case of partial loss, thus enabling the insured to claim a total loss.
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Obsolete. to banish.
noun
verb
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to forsake completely; desert; leave behind
to abandon a baby
drivers had to abandon their cars
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the order given to the crew of a ship that is about to sink to take to the lifeboats
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to give up completely
to abandon a habit
to abandon hope
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to yield control of or concern in; relinquish
to abandon office
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to give up (something begun) before completion
to abandon a job
the game was abandoned
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to surrender (oneself) to emotion without restraint
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to give (insured property that has suffered partial loss or damage) to the insurers in order that a claim for a total loss may be made
noun
Synonym Usage
See desert 2. Abandon, relinquish, renounce mean to give up all concern in something. Abandon means to give up or discontinue any further interest in something because of discouragement, weariness, distaste, or the like: to abandon one's efforts. Relinquish implies being or feeling compelled to give up something one would prefer to keep: to relinquish a long-cherished desire. Renounce implies making (and perhaps formally stating) a voluntary decision to give something up: to renounce worldly pleasures.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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abandonsimple
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abandonssimple
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have abandonedperfect
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has abandonedperfect
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am abandoningprogressive
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are abandoningprogressive
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is abandoningprogressive
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have been abandoningperfect progressive
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has been abandoningperfect progressive
Past
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abandonedsimple
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had abandonedperfect
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was abandoningprogressive
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were abandoningprogressive
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had been abandoningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of abandon
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English verb abando(u)nen, from Middle French abandoner, from Old French (mettre) a bandon “(put) under (someone's) jurisdiction,” equivalent to a “at, to” (from Latin ad; see ad-) + bandon, from Germanic band (unrecorded); see bond 1; noun derivative of the verb
Explanation
To abandon something is to give it up completely. If you’re in a cabin and a forest fire approaches, you’d better get in your car and abandon your cabin, or else be prepared to abandon your life. If you abandon something, you let it go, so when you describe someone as "acting with abandon," it means they have let go of restrictions or inhibitions. Maybe you like to dance with abandon in the privacy of your own room. But abandon could also mean people have abandoned their senses. To "drive with abandon," for example, means to drive recklessly.
Vocabulary lists containing abandon
Vocabulary from the Introduction to "Reality is Broken" by Jane McGonigal
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"The Perils of Indifference," Vocabulary from the speech
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"The Story of an Hour"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Section 301 allows a president to tariff as a targeted economic diplomacy measure to induce a foreign government to abandon a particular practice.
From Slate ● Aug. 27, 2026
It has survived wars and upheavals, but the famed handwoven Kashmir carpet industry is now battling a steady decline as younger generations abandon the painstaking craft.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
Last week, U.S. officials said Trump wants to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un again to convince him to abandon his country’s nuclear weapons program.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
He said he was forced to abandon the procedure and was discharged without adequate pain medication.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
“We may die a heroic death,” the officer proclaimed, “but we won’t abandon the people of Cuba!”
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
Even if Warsh’s Fed abandons that level of transparency, the minutes will still be useful for investors, according to Englander.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
The possibility of him suiting up in Wolverine yellow, sorry, maize and blue makes me want to sign onto the next Artemis mission, so long as it abandons me on Pluto.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 7, 2026
"No farming community abandons fields and homes lightly," says archaeologist and co-first author Ramiro Barberena, a researcher at CONICET.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 21, 2026
"It abandons Wales to a private only system no-one here, in all conscience, would design," he said.
From BBC ● Feb. 24, 2026
She abandons half-read novels on chairs and tables.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Elsewhere, a steep flight of gloomily-lit stairs lead to the basement where Morck and his misfits are based – the abandoned shower quarter of the fictional police station which gives them the name Department Q.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
The program is rooted in a childhood of poverty and illiteracy — roots that those who knew Parton said she never denied or abandoned.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
In 2019, Amazon abandoned its $2.5 billion plan to build a New York City headquarters after political opposition to subsidies it was set to receive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Research led by Professor Carl Sayer at UCL Geography has found that abandoned farmland can recover naturally and develop into a diverse wildflower meadow, raising questions about some conventional methods used in habitat restoration.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026
“Wonder why Roho’s followers abandoned the colony,” I say.
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
Mr. Walz launched a campaign for an unheard-of third term in September, before abandoning it four months later as the state’s fraud scandals multiplied.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
According to one former CIA officer, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, the group is one of the few institutions in Cuba's government with an interest in abandoning the decades-old communist economic model.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
With dinner already half-imagined, I could pass the tomatoes and melons without treating each one as an alternate future I might regret abandoning.
From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026
That doesn't necessarily mean abandoning it but it needs to be refined more so its purpose is immediately understandable, she says.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
If I'd fallen through Mr. Blake's greenhouse and not Moran, Moran wouldn't be abandoning me to that psycho.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
