Synonyms for farewell
- noun
- interjection
Most common
Synonyms by meaning
Noun
1. Good-bye — A wish of happiness or safety at parting, especially a permanent departure
good-bye, adieu, sayonara, adios, departure, vale, ciao, leave dated
2. Parting
Other
final, valedictory, valediction, congee dated
Interjection
toodle-pip UK, toodle-oo dated UK IE
Definitions
- n. 1
A wish of happiness or safety at parting, especially a permanent departure.
He bid farewell to all of his fans.
- n. 2
A departure; the act of leaving.
Before I take my farewell of the subject.
- interj. 1
Goodbye
He said "Farewell!" and left.
Related words
- Phrases
- farewell party
Forms
- Plural
- farewells → good-byes, adieux, sayonaras, adioses…
Choose the right word
Good-by is the homely and hearty, farewell the formal English word at parting. 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
- adieu With a shrug and some sorrow, Europeans bid 'Adieu' to EU member Britain.
- valediction "Yours, etc." was once a common valediction.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| farewell | rising | |
| adieu | rising | |
| adios | rising | |
| sayonara | rising | |
| valedictory | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- vale1, ciao1
- 5 letters
- leave1, final2, adieu2, adios3
- 6 letters
- congee
- 7 letters
- parting2
- 8 letters
- sayonara
- 9 letters
- departure3
- 11 letters
- valedictory5, valediction
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (final2 = 2 syllables).