Synonyms for abandon
əˈbæn dənaban·don

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:4.8 / 16 votes

1. abandon

   Abandon is a word of wide signification, applying to persons or things of any kind; abdicate and resign apply to office, authority, or power; cede to territorial possessions; surrender especially to military force, and more generally to any demand, claim, passion, etc. Quit carries an idea of suddenness or abruptness not necessarily implied in abandon, and may not have the same suggestion of finality. The king abdicates his throne, cedes his territory, deserts his followers, renounces his religion, relinquishes his titles, abandons his designs. A cowardly officer deserts his ship; the helpless passengers abandon it. We quit business, give up property, resign office, abandon a habit or a trust. Relinquish commonly implies reluctance; the fainting hand relinquishes its grasp; the creditor relinquishes his claim. Abandon implies previous association with responsibility for or control of; forsake implies previous association with inclination or attachment, real or assumed; a man may abandon or forsake house or friends; he abandons an enterprise; forsakes God. Abandon is applied to both good and evil action; a thief abandons his designs, a man his principles. Forsake, like abandon, may be used either in the favorable or unfavorable sense; desert is always unfavorable, involving a breach of duty, except when used of mere localities; as, "the Deserted Village." While a monarch abdicates, a president or other elected or appointed officer resigns. It was held that James II. abdicated his throne by deserting it.

   Synonyms:
   abdicate, abjure, cast off, cease, cede, depart from, desert, discontinue, forego, forsake, forswear, give up, leave, quit, recant, relinquish, renounce, repudiate, resign, retire from, retract, surrender, vacate, withdraw from

   Antonyms:
   adopt, advocate, assert, cherish, claim, court, defend, favor, haunt, hold, keep, maintain, occupy, prosecute, protect, pursue, retain, seek, support, undertake, uphold, vindicate

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:2.7 / 12 votes

1. abandon

   Synonyms:
   leave, forsake, desert, renounce, cease, relinquish, discontinue, castoff, resign, retire, quit, forego, forswear, depart from, vacate, surrender, abjure, repudiate

   Antonyms:
   pursue, prosecute, undertake, seek, court, cherish, favor, protect, claim, maintain, defend, advocate, retain, support, uphold, occupy, haunt, hold, assert, vindicate, keep

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:1.8 / 6 votes

1. abandon, wantonness, unconstraintnoun

   the trait of lacking restraint or control; reckless freedom from inhibition or worry

   "she danced with abandon"

   Synonyms:
   wantonness, wildness, licentiousness, unconstraint

2. wildness, abandonverb

   a feeling of extreme emotional intensity

   "the wildness of his anger"

   Synonyms:
   fury, unconstraint, wantonness, wildness, violence, vehemence, furiousness, ferocity, fierceness

3. abandonverb

   forsake, leave behind

   "We abandoned the old car in the empty parking lot"

   Synonyms:
   give up, vacate, empty, desert, forsake, desolate

4. abandon, give upverb

   give up with the intent of never claiming again

   "Abandon your life to God"; "She gave up her children to her ex-husband when she moved to Tahiti"; "We gave the drowning victim up for dead"

   Synonyms:
   spare, allow, forfeit, vacate, release, give up, forsake, forgo, kick, throw in, surrender, part with, fall by the wayside, desolate, lay off, waive, throw overboard, dispense with, cede, stop, empty, desert, relinquish, throw in the towel, deliver, resign, cease, chuck up the sponge, renounce, discontinue, drop out, free, drop by the wayside, forego, quit

5. vacate, empty, abandonverb

   leave behind empty; move out of

   "You must vacate your office by tonight"

   Synonyms:
   overturn, lift, vacate, annul, rescind, countermand, discharge, evacuate, reverse, renounce, desolate, give up, resign, desert, revoke, empty, forsake, void, repeal

6. abandon, give upverb

   stop maintaining or insisting on; of ideas or claims

   "He abandoned the thought of asking for her hand in marriage"; "Both sides have to give up some claims in these negotiations"

   Synonyms:
   spare, allow, forfeit, vacate, release, give up, forsake, forgo, kick, throw in, surrender, part with, fall by the wayside, desolate, lay off, waive, throw overboard, dispense with, cede, stop, empty, desert, relinquish, throw in the towel, deliver, resign, cease, chuck up the sponge, renounce, discontinue, drop out, free, drop by the wayside, forego, quit

7. abandon, forsake, desolate, desertverb

   leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch

   "The mother deserted her children"

   Synonyms:
   waste, devastate, give up, desert, lay waste to, vacate, scourge, empty, depopulate, defect, forsake, ravage, desolate

Matched Categories

1. • Discard
   • Leave
   • Unrestraint

Editors ContributionRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. give upverb

   give up an opportunity

   i gave up my chance

   Submitted by r.pisani on January 11, 2022  

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:2.8 / 4 votes

1. abandonverb

   Synonyms:
   leave, relinquish, quit, forsake, desert, evacuate, drop, abjure, forswear, give over, cast off, retire from, withdraw from

2. abandonverb

   Synonyms:
   surrender, cede, yield, resign, forego, renounce, waive, vacate, ABDICATE, deliver up, give up, part with, let go, lay down

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:2.0 / 1 vote

1. abandonnoun

   Synonyms:
   unrestraint, wantonness

2. abandonverb

   Synonyms:
   desert, forsake, forego, discard, relinquish, repudiate, waive, renounce, abdicate

   Antonyms:
   retain, maintain, continue, cherish

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "abandon":

   renounce, leave, relinquish, waive, forgo, surrender, forego, forsake, quit, abandonment, abandons, drop, discontinue, flee, discard, abdicate, leaving

Suggested Resources

1. abandon

   Song lyrics by abandon -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by abandon on the Lyrics.com website.

2. Abandon

   Abandon vs. Abandoned -- In this Grammar.com article you will learn the differences between the words Abandon and Abandoned.

How to pronounce abandon?

How to say abandon in sign language?

Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use abandon in a sentence?

1. Dan Bishop:

   I don’t want to suggest that NATO is weak or should be weak or that we should abandon it in any way. But the way for it to be strengthened is for Europe to know that defending the integrity of Europe is primarily a European responsibility.

2. Kilian Jornet:

   Up there you cannot think a lot, everything is going slow in the brain, the decisions are mostly like, 'Is this going to kill me?' If it's yes, you go down, if not you continue. In the mountains you need to be rational. Stress is just a waste of energy. The physical suffering is something you know will come so it's not really a question. You need to fight to survive. You can't abandon yourself because then you die.

3. Antony Blinken:

   Here today we are laying it out in great detail with the hope that in sharing what we know with the world we can influence Russia to abandon the path of warand choose a different path while there is still time.

4. Ronald Reagan:

   This is the issue of this election : whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves.

5. Bernie Sanders:

   I pledge to you that every day I will fight for the public interest, not the corporate interest. I will not abandon any segment of American society -- whether you're gay or black or Latino or poor, or working class -- just because it is politically expedient at a given time.