Word
abdication
Phoneticsab·di·ca·tion
US/ˌæbdɪˈkeɪʃən/
UK/ˌæbdɪkˈeɪʃən/
Definitions
01giving up a throne
n. when a king or queen officially gives up their power and position.
n. the formal renunciation of sovereign power or high office by a monarch or leader.
“The king's abdication shocked the country and changed the royal family forever.”
“The sudden abdication of the emperor created a constitutional crisis that the interim government struggled to resolve within the legal framework.”
Formal
Usage
Often used with the preposition 'of' followed by the title or power being surrendered.
Synonyms
Antonyms
02failure of duty
n. the failure to do what you are responsible for doing.
n. the failure to fulfil a duty or responsibility; a metaphorical extension of the political sense.
“Leaving the children home alone was a complete abdication of his responsibility as a parent.”
“Critics argued that the board's refusal to address the scandal was a total abdication of their ethical obligations to the shareholders.”
Formal
Usage
Commonly appears in the phrase 'abdication of responsibility'.
Synonyms
Antonyms
03disowning a child
n. the act of legally refusing to recognize a child as your own.
n. the act of disowning or disinheriting a child; a historical legal application of the term.
“In the old story, the father's abdication of his son left the boy with nothing.”
“The legal records from the seventeenth century detail the father's formal abdication of his eldest son following a public dispute over the family estate.”
Archaic · Formal
Teaching tip
This sense is archaic; modern speakers prefer 'disown' or 'disinherit' for this specific family context.
Synonyms
Real-World Examples
“We are about the future."
Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said there had been a "total abdication of leadership".” Etymology
First attested in 1552. From Latin abdicātiō (“renunciation”), from abdicō. By surface analysis, abdicate + -ion.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.