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

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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 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

However, unsubstantiated reports of neglect or abuse are erased five years after the conclusion of the investigation.

— Alexandra Koch, Fox News, 14 Mar. 2025
The Criminal Minds actor says a life of neglect and isolation left the dog disconnected.

— Kelli Bender, People.com, 14 Mar. 2025