abdicate
Americanverb (used without object)
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abdicates,
present (3rd person singular)
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abdicated,
past participle, past
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abdicating
present participle
verb (used with object)
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abdicates,
present (3rd person singular)
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abdicated,
past participle, past
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abdicating
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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abdicationnoun
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abdicatornoun
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abdicableadjective
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abdicativeadjective
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nonabdicativeadjective
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unabdicatedadjective
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unabdicatingadjective
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unabdicativeadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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abdicatesimple
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abdicatessimple
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have abdicatedperfect
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has abdicatedperfect
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am abdicatingprogressive
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are abdicatingprogressive
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is abdicatingprogressive
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have been abdicatingperfect progressive
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has been abdicatingperfect progressive
Past
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abdicatedsimple
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had abdicatedperfect
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was abdicatingprogressive
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were abdicatingprogressive
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had been abdicatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of abdicate
First recorded in 1535–45; from Latin abdicāt(us) “renounced,” past participle of abdicāre “to renounce,” from ab- ab- + dicāre “to indicate, consecrate”
Explanation
Sometimes someone in power might decide to give up that power and step down from his or her position. When they do that, they abdicate their authority, giving up all duties and perks of the job. The original meaning of the verb abdicate came from the combination of the Latin ab- "away" and dicare "proclaim." (Note that in the charming relationships between languages with common roots, the Spanish word for "he says" is dice, which comes directly from dicare.) The word came to refer to disowning one's children, and it wasn't until the 17th century that the first use of the word relating to giving up power or public office was recorded.
Vocabulary lists containing abdicate
The Declaration of Independence
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100 Top "SAT" Words
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You Can Say That Again: Dic and Dict
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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:
“It is not enough to invoke ethics in the abstract; robust legal frameworks, independent oversight, informed users and a political system that does not abdicate its responsibility are required,” he wrote.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026
In 2006, when a popular uprising forced the king to abdicate, Thapa was already a prominent figure in the pro-democracy movement and had been jailed several times for his role in street protests.
From Barron's ● Feb. 27, 2026
Yet sometimes miracles happen, and Senates don’t entirely abdicate their constitutional advice and consent roles.
From Slate ● Oct. 4, 2025
She is the first Danish monarch to voluntarily abdicate in over 800 years.
From BBC ● Jan. 14, 2024
Yet, in Florence’s heart tonight hatred and bitterness weighed like granite, pride refused to abdicate from the throne it had held so long.
From "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin
It may serve his interests by distracting and deflecting but abdicates presidential responsibility.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2025
An eccentric Danish queen abdicates - will others follow?
From BBC ● Jan. 14, 2024
There's a lot of speculation over who might take over in her stead as Lakshmi abdicates her throne.
From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2023
Better because it abdicates the throne of “is.”
From Slate ● May 14, 2019
Whenever he chooses, he abdicates, and must then join his other children in obeying the eldest son.
From Where Half The World Is Waking Up The Old and the New in Japan, China, the Philippines, and India, Reported With Especial Reference to American Conditions by Clarence Hamilton Poe
Executives say the looser rules will allow them to compete more in corners of lending they have largely abdicated because of the capital costs, like to riskier companies or private-equity firms striking deals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
However, in 2014 he abdicated, two years after it had emerged he had been elephant hunting in Botswana with Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, who had been his mistress, during an economic crisis in Spain.
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2026
Juan Carlos abdicated later in 2014, handing the throne to Felipe.
From Barron's ● Nov. 5, 2025
Ayad Akhtar’s “McNeal,” which had its premiere last year at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater in a production starring Robert Downey Jr., failed precisely because it abdicated this responsibility.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2025
Father told me he has been expecting this to happen ever since June, when Ismail Pasha, the khedive of Egypt, abdicated the throne and his son Mehmet Tewfik Pasha became the new khedive.
From "The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra's Needle" by Dan Gutman
It is “unfair to say the court is abdicating its authority,” said the ex-prosecutor, who also requested anonymity to speak candidly about the district’s judges.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 4, 2026
“If that’s true, what would prohibit Congress from just abdicating all responsibility to regulate foreign commerce—for that matter, declare war—to the president?”
From Slate ● Nov. 5, 2025
Critics suggest police are abdicating decision-making about women's safety to an algorithm.
From BBC ● Apr. 19, 2025
"She is abdicating her duty, and this is something that she needs to decide, not a jury. It's a question of law, not a question of fact."
From Salon ● Apr. 3, 2024
He wanted to lie down in this redolent field, curl up in the green womb in the dazzling aura of these mountains, growing warm and drowsy under the sun, abdicating all responsibilities—and sleep.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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.
