abandoning

verb

present participle of abandon
1
as in indulging
to give (oneself) over to something especially unrestrainedly more than ready to abandon himself to a life of complete idleness for the duration of his vacation

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in leaving
to cause to remain behind abandoned the group that he had been hiking with and struck out on his own

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in canceling
to put an end to (something planned or previously agreed to) the bad weather forced NASA to abandon the launch

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in discontinuing
to stop doing (something) permanently marriage customs that were abandoned decades ago

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of abandoning For Roman's team, the prospect of abandoning the telescope just before the finish line hit hard. — Josh Dinner, Space.com, 27 Aug. 2026 Still, the numbers do not show that investors are broadly abandoning Bitcoin for Solana. — Camila Grigera Naón, Fortune, 27 Aug. 2026 While largely abandoning his modest career as a recording artist, Curry found greater success on the stage and screens, appearing in London in Joe Papp’s pop version of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance. — Greg Evans, Deadline, 26 Aug. 2026 August 23 – September 22 Creating a budget does not mean abandoning joy. — Tarot.com, Sun Sentinel, 24 Aug. 2026 Virgo August 23 – September 22 Creating a budget does not mean abandoning joy. — Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 24 Aug. 2026 For Cramer, the political backlash doesn't mean abandoning the data center trade. — Alexa Lomonaco, CNBC, 24 Aug. 2026 People are doing backyard breeding, unethical breeding, abandoning their pets, surrendering their pets at alarming rates and they're getting euthanized at alarming rates all across our nation, in shelters just because of space. — Bobby Burack Outkick, FOXNews.com, 24 Aug. 2026 The designer’s most radical choice was abandoning the use of white throughout the unit. — Valentina Lonati, Architectural Digest, 22 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abandoning
  1. indulging
  2. leaving
  3. canceling
  4. discontinuing
  5. surrendering
  6. forsaking
  7. scrapping
  8. quitting
Verb
  • Remmick, Jimmy Crystal and Larry Lamb share an unrelenting desire to entertain, whether performing music outside a juke joint, indulging amusement with graphic violence or delighting the British reading public with scandal and drama.
    — Daniel D'Addario, Variety, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Whether the race ever happens, the idea is pure Shaq, a celebrity who's renowned for indulging his passions, of which cars are near the top of the list.
    — Terry Baddoo, USA Today, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of indulging
Verb
  • However, the largest drop in June occurred among prime-age workers, leaving several economists puzzled and surprised.
    — , CNBC, 28 Aug. 2026
  • First, the power goes out, leaving Bret wandering the halls as lights flicker around him.
    — Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of leaving
Verb
  • No, fans weren’t punishing USC for canceling the Notre Dame series.
    — Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Between 2019 and 2021, for example, the president proposed canceling Roman (then called WFIRST) three separate times in three different budget requests.
    — Chelsea Gohd, Space.com, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of canceling
Verb
  • The bill is a response to the federal government’s discontinuing production of pennies.
    — Jack Harvel August 26, Kansas City Star, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The magazine claims that the company considered moving production of the four-door away from its primary factory in Stuttgart, Germany, as well as discontinuing it even sooner, before settling on gradually phasing out the model by 2030.
    — Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of discontinuing
Verb
  • Overall, Lomon pitched 16 2/3 innings, surrendering 24 hits and eight walks while recording seven strikeouts in his career.
    — Peter Chawaga, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Leaving is sometimes necessary, but far more often the harder and healthier work is learning how to stay connected to imperfect people without surrendering ourselves, or trying to control them.
    — David H. Rosmarin, Time, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of surrendering
Verb
  • Supporters of 2022 World Cup champions Argentina were among the most visible in Doha during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, with some saving for four years and forsaking home-buying in order to make the trip.
    — Suzanne Rowan Kelleher, Forbes.com, 11 June 2026
  • If bigger and better opportunities come along, striking while the iron is hot is a logical course of action, even when moves sometimes appear to make more sense for financial reasons than footballing ones and forsaking the comfort of operating in a stable environment.
    — Andy Naylor, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2026
Definition of forsaking
Verb
  • The Venice Film Festival is weighing scrapping its traditional opening jury press conference on the Lido.
    — Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 29 Aug. 2026
  • And that’s only if the washing machine is worth keeping and not scrapping altogether.
    — Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of scrapping
Verb
  • Craig, now a devoted granddad with a dry sense of humor, began working alongside his father at thirteen, quitting school even though teachers warned him that house moving was a dying trade.
    — Nicola Twilley, New Yorker, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Hep Spyder blamed Dwight for Buffo Carducci’s quitting on him back when Dwight was Hep’s tent boss.
    — Ingrid Vasquez, PEOPLE, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of quitting

Browse Nearby Words

abandoners
abandoning
abandonment
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Cite this Entry

“Abandoning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abandoning. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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