DESUETUDE Synonyms: 11 Similar and Opposite Words

desuetude

noun

ˈde-swi-ˌtüd

Definition of desuetude

as in neglect

lack of use despite the long years of desuetude, the old manual typewriter seemed to work just fine

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 desuetude Instead of working alone, Mahama shares his process through these organizations, offering Ghana’s people the chance to rebuild after a period of desuetude. — Edna Bonhomme, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2025 New England travel writer and physician Jonathan Brown visited Sans-Souci in the 1830s, long after the king’s suicide in 1820, when the palace had been completely pillaged and had fallen into utter desuetude. — Marlene Daut, Harper's BAZAAR, 8 Oct. 2021 Some passengers, however, seem to have moved beyond our technological limitations to a conceptual world where human drivers have fallen into desuetude. — Peter Jakubowicz, Wired, 4 Sep. 2021 This Customs guidance has gone entirely unenforced for decades, but it was reissued — perhaps to keep it from desuetude — by the Obama administration in its final years. — Eugene Kontorovich, Washington Post, 17 July 2017 Glenn Close returns to the role of Norma Desmond in the 1993 Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, based on Billy Wilder’s classic portrait of Hollywood desuetude. — The New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2017

Recent Examples of Synonyms for desuetude

Noun

Acton has said the campaign used her estranged mother to attack her over a childhood marked by severe abuse and neglect.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2026
Caught in that sensual music all neglect Monuments of unageing intellect.

— Frannie Comstock, Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of neglect

Noun

Built into a natural ravine, the stadium’s site was used for ancient Greek athletic contests and later Roman spectacles before falling into centuries of disuse.

— ABC News, ABC News, 16 Aug. 2026
So long as effective communication persists, the reflex to mourn the disuse of a language can be motivated only by something else—nostalgia or, perhaps, the loss of a group’s ability to easily demarcate itself.

— The New Yorker, New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2026

Definition of disuse

Noun

This—along with the callous abandonment of trans rights by Democratic politicians from Gavin Newsom in California to James Talarico in Texas—will hurt the Democrats’ ability to turn out would-be voters on the left, especially among the young.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 22 Oct. 2026
Sure, Thomas is juggling abandonment issues, a ton of recent trauma, and a ghost in his head only Vision believes in.

— Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of abandonment

Browse Nearby Words

destructive

desuetude

desuetudes

See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

Style

“Desuetude.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desuetude. Accessed 30 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of desuetude

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

reticent

Popular in Grammar & Usage

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Pwn, Skibidi, Girlboss and Other Words Added to the 2026 Scrabble Dictionary

The Words of the Week - Oct. 30

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes