abolish
verb
Simple meaning
To end a law, system, institution, custom or practice.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhbahlishSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
əˈbɑlɪʃ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
To end a law, system, institution, custom or practice.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To end a law, system, institution, custom or practice.
'Abolish' means to formally put an end to something, especially a law or system. It's a strong word, implying a complete and permanent termination, often after a period of debate or struggle.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where you'll really hear it
History textbook
“The reformers sought to abolish unfair labor practices.”
Political debate
“Many argue we should abolish the death penalty.”
Newspaper headline
“New bill aims to abolish the controversial tax.”
Where it naturally appears
- Law/legal
- Government/politics
- Academic writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use abolish
- “Slavery was abolished in the mid-19th century in America and in Russia.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Antonyms
Sense: to end a law or system or institution
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.