Synonyms for abandon
- verb
- noun
Synonyms by meaning
Verb
1. Forsake
forsake, relinquish, renounce, vacate, quit, surrender, cede, leave, desert, yield, forgo, drop, repudiate, let go, abdicate, cease, abjure formal, discontinue, give over, retire, recant, evacuate
2. Deliver up
give up, part with, deliver up, throw over, run out on, blin, forlet dated UK
Other
Noun
1. Wantonness — A yielding to natural impulses or inhibitions; freedom from artificial constraint, with loss of appreciation…
wantonness, abandonment, profligacy, unconstraint, unrestraint, libertinism
Other
Definitions
- v. 1
To give up or relinquish control of, to surrender or to give oneself over, or to yield to one's emotions.
- v. 2
To desist in doing, practicing, following, holding, or adhering to; to turn away from; to permit to lapse; to renounce; to discontinue.
- n. 1
A yielding to natural impulses or inhibitions; freedom from artificial constraint, with loss of appreciation of consequences. (Now especially in the phrase with abandon.)
with gay abandon, with wild abandon, with reckless abandon
Related words
- Word family
- abandoned abandonment
- Is a kind of
- leave retreat give up
Choose the right word
Quit carries an idea of suddenness or abruptness not necessarily implied in abandon, and may not have the same suggestion of finality. A cowardly officer deserts his ship; the helpless passengers abandon it.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- renounce I renounce everything as long as I can be with you.
- vacate The guests were requested to vacate the premises.
- relinquish Power is a drug which few ever manage to relinquish.
- forsake He could not forsake his friend in trouble.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| abandon | steady | |
| renounce | steady | |
| vacate | falling | |
| relinquish | steady | |
| forsake | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- drop1, quit1, ease1, cede1, blin, jilt1
- 5 letters
- leave1, yield1, cease1, forgo2
- 6 letters
- desert2, retire2, vacate2, recant2, abjure, forlet
- 7 letters
- forsake2
- 8 letters
- evacuate4, renounce2, abdicate3, wildness2
- 9 letters
- surrender3, repudiate4
- 10 letters
- relinquish3, profligacy4, wantonness
- 11 letters
- abandonment4, discontinue4, libertinism, unrestraint, coltishness
- 12 letters
- unconstraint
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (forgo2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- abandonner