abjection

noun

ab·​jec·​tion ab-ˈjek-shən How to pronounce abjection (audio)
Synonyms of abjectionnext
1
: a low or downcast state : degradation
2
: the act of making abject : humbling, rejection
I protest … this vile abjection of youth to age!—G. B. Shaw

Synonyms of abjection

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Examples of abjection in a Sentence

sees the corporate scandal as yet another sign of the general abjection of our society
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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.
No accident that the likes of Lisa Yuskavage, Sasha Gordon, and Mulligan are regularly invoked in accounts of cringe-adjacent concepts like abjection, disturbance, disquiet. — Eugenie Brinkema, ARTnews.com, 17 Oct. 2026 In this wildness of abjection, trans poetics offered me a language upon which my future reflection could lean. — Literary Hub, 7 Oct. 2026 Or the elective abjection of modernist figures like Antonin Artaud, Jean Genet, Marguerite Duras, and Simone Weil. — Ian Penman, Harpers Magazine, 4 Aug. 2026 Their authors also each humble characters who cling to superficial social graces in an attempt to evade abjection. — Hannah Gold, New Yorker, 17 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for abjection

Word History

Etymology

Middle English abjectioun "humbleness, abject state, outcasts," borrowed from Anglo-French or Late Latin; Anglo-French abjeccioun "rejection, outcasts," borrowed from Late Latin abjectiōn-, abjectiō "casting away, rejection, humbled condition, humbleness," going back to Latin, "dejection," from abicere "to throw down" + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of action nouns — more at abject

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of abjection was in the 15th century

Rhymes for abjection

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Cite this Entry

“Abjection.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abjection. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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