quit 1 of 2

1
as in to leave
to give up (a job or office) he decided to quit his job at the fast-food restaurant

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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5
as in to succumb
to cease resistance (as to another's arguments, demands, or control) tried to persuade his daughter to remain at home, but eventually he just quit and let her go out on her own

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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7
as in to pay
to give what is owed for eager to quit all debts before starting married life

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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quit

2 of 2

adjective

as in free
no longer burdened with something unpleasant or painful I am finally quit of that terrible task

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How is the word quit distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of quit are cease, desist, discontinue, and stop. While all these words mean "to suspend or cause to suspend activity," quit may stress either finality or abruptness in stopping or ceasing.

the engine faltered, sputtered, then quit altogether

When is it sensible to use cease instead of quit?

The words cease and quit are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, cease applies to states, conditions, or existence and may add a suggestion of gradualness and a degree of finality.

by nightfall the fighting had ceased

When is desist a more appropriate choice than quit?

While the synonyms desist and quit are close in meaning, desist implies forbearance or restraint as a motive for stopping or ceasing.

desisted from further efforts to persuade them

When would discontinue be a good substitute for quit?

While in some cases nearly identical to quit, discontinue applies to the stopping of an accustomed activity or practice.

we have discontinued the manufacture of that item

When could stop be used to replace quit?

In some situations, the words stop and quit are roughly equivalent. However, stop applies to action or progress or to what is operating or progressing and may imply suddenness or definiteness.

stopped at the red light

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 quit
Verb
After the Times piece, Baldoni was dropped from talent agency WME, and Liz Plank, the co-host of his podcast, Man Enough, quit the show. Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 13 Mar. 2025 In the newly abstaining group, those who drank the most before quitting saw the biggest changes in their lipid levels. Ars Technica, 12 Mar. 2025 The financial incentive to quit has been offered to millions of federal workers as part of Trump's plan to shrink the size of the U.S. government. Nichola Groom, USA TODAY, 12 Mar. 2025 As the countdown moves closer to the end of Windows 10 support this October, here are some compelling reasons to quit Windows and give Linux a try. Jason Evangelho, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for quit
Recent Examples of Synonyms for quit
Verb
  • While there’s no official answer to what happened to Bailee, Summer House fans don’t blame her for leaving the show, with many viewers accusing the cast of favoring new cast mate Lexi over Bailee in the Season 9 premiere.
    Jason Pham, StyleCaster, 19 Mar. 2025
  • The last remaining Founder, Marlene Hagge-Vossler, passed away in 2023, leaving a sad void at the Founders Cup.
    Candace Oehler, Forbes, 19 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • The decision, however, has been the subject of apparent criticism from SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump, who have claimed Williams and Wilmore were abandoned by the Biden administration.
    Jackie Wattles, CNN, 18 Mar. 2025
  • If finding a safe shelter is not possible, either crouch down inside your car and protect your head, or abandon your vehicle and seek shelter in a low-lying area such as a ditch or ravine.
    NC Weather Bot, Charlotte Observer, 17 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • Here are 3 reasons why leaders – political as well as corporate – should stop talking about themselves and others as players in a game.
    Pia Lauritzen, Forbes, 13 Mar. 2025
  • Survivor host Jeff Probst explains why show stopped doing schoolyard picks to determine tribes Blind ambition Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
    Dalton Ross, EW.com, 13 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • One of the drivers succumbed to injuries at the scene, while the other was transported to a nearby medical center for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
    Stephanie Lam, The Mercury News, 10 Mar. 2025
  • Rather than aiming for the unique, which might pierce our haze of distraction, art has succumbed to marketable generalities: stock music on Spotify, soporific streams of Netflix content.
    Namwali Serpell, The New Yorker, 8 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • On Thursday, the university, a historically Black institution, ordered the fraternity chapter to cease all activities and suspended pledging for all Greek organizations for the rest of the academic year.
    Neil Vigdor, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2025
  • The program ended in the early 1960s after a member of the CIA Inspector General's staff learned of MKUltra's experiments and ordered them to cease all experimentation on non-consenting subjects.
    Jessica Sager, People.com, 8 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • Can tariffs pay for a budget deficit when Social Security, Medicare and the interest payments on our debt are what really matter and there’s $36 trillion of national debt to be made up by them?
    Jim Cramer, CNBC, 10 Mar. 2025
  • From fiscal year 2015 to 2022, the Social Security Agency paid about $72 billion in improper payments, most of which were overpayments, the report noted.
    Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 10 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • Piers Morgan presided over a stormy encounter on his chat show, before one guest departed abruptly.
    Caroline Frost, Deadline, 15 Mar. 2025
  • Marine Force one then departed for Joint Base Andrews.
    Michael Dorgan, Fox News, 15 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • How the climate crisis may be changing the way tornadoes behave A level 4 of 5 risk of severe thunderstorms surrounds the high risk area and stretches from eastern Louisiana, including New Orleans, into western Georgia, and the extreme western Florida Panhandle.
    Mary Gilbert, CNN, 14 Mar. 2025
  • That’s one of my big dreams — to learn a lot about different cultures and how different cultures behave.
    Anne Easton, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Quit.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quit. Accessed 22 Mar. 2025.

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