Synonyms

abolish

American

[uh-bol-ish] / əˈbɒl ɪʃ /

verb (used with object)

to do away with; put an end to; annul; make void.

to abolish slavery.

Synonyms:

eliminate, extirpate, exterminate, extinguish, obliterate, annihilate, cancel, nullify, suppress

Antonyms:

establish

abolish British

/ əˈbɒlɪʃ /

verb

(tr) to do away with (laws, regulations, customs, etc); put an end to

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Synonym Usage

Abolish, eradicate, stamp out mean to do away completely with something. To abolish is to cause to cease, often by a summary order: to abolish a requirement. Stamp out implies forcibly making an end to something considered undesirable or harmful: to stamp out the opium traffic. Eradicate (literally, to tear out by the roots ), a formal word, suggests extirpation, leaving no vestige or trace: to eradicate all use of child labor.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of abolish

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Middle French aboliss-, long stem of abolir, from Latin abolēre “to destroy, efface”

Explanation

To abolish is to get rid of or annul. So when the principal yells at you for the 100th time for not having your shirt tucked in, it's safe to wish they'd just abolish the silly dress code. The word abolish might stir up some historical connotations, since in the U.S. it's commonly associated with bringing an end to slavery. In fact, those who opposed slavery were called "abolitionists." The word comes to us from the Latin word abolere, meaning "to destroy or cause to die out." These days abolish is used to bring a final and official-sounding end to laws, codes, and unsavory practices.

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Vocabulary lists containing abolish

The Declaration of Independence

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List 1

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Life Is So Good

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The country's biggest union, Unia, also warned the initiative would weaken labour protections, abolish rules barring discrimination between resident and foreign employees and "open the door wide to wage dumping".

From Barron's • Jun. 9, 2026

These tolls provided up to two-thirds of the kingdom’s annual income; it took an international trade conference to finally abolish them in 1857.

From Barron's • May 22, 2026

The union also wanted Samsung to abolish a bonus cap of 50% of annual salaries and allocate 15% of annual operating profit to a bonus pool distributed to workers.

From BBC • May 21, 2026

And some lawmakers in North Carolina seek to follow suit: A bill introduced in the state Senate last spring seeks to abolish both homewrecker laws.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 18, 2026

Sprat went on to acknowledge that there were some hardliners who were so hostile to all aspects of ancient learning that they wanted to abolish Oxford and Cambridge.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023