as in neglect
lack of use
despite the long years of desuetude, the old manual typewriter seemed to work just fine
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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
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
-
Meanwhile, urban poverty deepened, and some Black tenants accused Jewish landlords of neglect or profiteering — charges that sparked anger and occasionally violence in places like Chicago’s Lawndale and Newark’s Central Ward.—
Ed Gaskin,
Boston Herald,
24 May 2025
-
In 2014, she was legally removed from her mother’s custody following reports of neglect.—
Jessica Schladebeck,
New York Daily News,
24 May 2025
Noun
-
There are now more than two decades’ worth of experimental websites, art projects on defunct social networks, and vernacular digital images that have simply been lost to technological obsolescence and disuse.—
Kyle Chayka,
New Yorker,
7 May 2025
-
The rescission power fell into disuse under Bill Clinton.—
The Editors,
National Review,
10 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
The abandonment of past constraints like the Conrad Rule has created a loophole, enabling legislators to use reconciliation to enact policies that could harm the nation’s fiscal outlook, simply by demonstrating fiscal impact.—
Doug Criscitello,
Forbes.com,
30 May 2025
-
The Women’s Comprehensive Care Window offers psychological counseling, legal assistance, referral to shelters and specialized services for women facing violence, discrimination or abandonment.—
Alicia G Kerber Palma,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
29 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Desuetude.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desuetude. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.
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