EN

Synonyms for adieu

  • interjection
  • noun

Most common

good-bye good-by farewell adios

All synonyms

Interjection

good-bye, good-by, farewell, bye-bye informal, sayonara informal, adios, so long informal, bye, au revoir, cheers, ciao, cheerio, aloha, shalom, arrivederci, good day formal dated

Noun

leave-taking, leave, valediction

Antonyms

greeting, hello, welcome

All antonyms of adieu →

Definitions

  1. interj. 1

    Said to wish a final farewell; goodbye.

  2. n. 1

    A farewell, a goodbye; especially a fond farewell, or a lasting or permanent farewell.

    We bid our final adieus to our family, then boarded the ship, bound for America.

Forms

Plural
adieux → leave-takings, leaves, valedictions…

Choose the right word

Adieu, Farewell or Conge?

Adieu, from the French, is still more ceremonious than farewell; conge, also from the French, is commonly contemptuous or supercilious, and equivalent to dismissal.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

  • bye This is the park where we said our last good-bye.
  • farewell We held a farewell party in honor of Dr. Kawamura.

Popularity over time

Word1850 → 2019Trend
adieurising
byerising
farewellrising
adiosrising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters
bye1
4 letters
ciao1
5 letters
leave1, aloha3, adios3
6 letters
cheers1, shalom2
7 letters
cheerio3
8 letters
farewell2, sayonara
11 letters
arrivederci, valediction

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (aloha3 = 3 syllables).