LEAVING Synonyms: 192 Similar and Opposite Words

leaving 1 of 3

adjective

as in departing

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Relevance

leaving

2 of 3

noun

as in retirement

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

leaving

3 of 3

verb

present participle of leave

as in abandoning

to cause to remain behind you can leave your lunch in the refrigerator while we're outside starry-eyed lovers who promise never to leave one another

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in bequeathing

to give by means of a will I'm going to leave all of my possessions to my children

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in quitting

to give up (a job or office) he left his job in the city and moved out into the country

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in handing

to put (something) into the possession or safekeeping of another why don't you leave your watch with me while you swim?

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in dumping

to end a usually intimate relationship with is there ever a good way to leave a lover?

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in letting

to give permission to aw, leave him come

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 leaving

Noun

Officers responded to a call about shots fired a few blocks away from Beale Street and saw a person armed with a gun leaving, said Memphis police. — ABC News, 27 Aug. 2026 Are there concerns in the club over Hughes and his leaving, and the effect of that on the planning and way this summer transfer window has gone? — James Pearce, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2026 This is because a senior leader's exit, whether by choice or not, affects the business far more than one employee leaving. — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026 Why leaving room for changes matters Weather, closures and travel delays can rewrite an itinerary overnight. — Ashley Lynch, Kansas City Star, 3 Aug. 2026 There have been other senior exec exits, with All3 COO Sara Geater and Group Director of Corporate Development Steven Brown leaving. — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 21 July 2026 News of their leaving sent Google’s shares tumbling more than 5% on Monday. — Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 23 June 2026 Investigators never found footage of her leaving, according to the outlets, and her body has not been recovered. — Christina Coulter, PEOPLE, 3 June 2026

Verb

Jonah Bevin's adoptive parents did not attend a custody hearing after it was shut down, briefly leaving him as a ward of the state in the Caribbean nation. — Lucas Aulbach, Louisville Courier Journal, 4 Sep. 2026 Government debt makes up more than 200% of its gross domestic product, leaving its finances highly sensitive to rising borrowing costs. — Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 3 Sep. 2026 The researchers addressed this by filling only the hollow struts with foam, leaving the larger openings available for water to flow through. — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 3 Sep. 2026 With the Balogun deal apparently revived, Monaco informed Chelsea at 11pm that the Camara deal was now off, leaving the London club seething. — Tom Burrows, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026 The streetcar hurtled down the hill before coming off the rails on a bend and smashing into a building, leaving the wooden cabin a crumpled wreck. — ABC News, 3 Sep. 2026 Essayli said Southworth is accused of also targeting the family of the President’s personal attorney by publishing their home address and phone numbers and leaving threatening voicemails. — Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2026 The jury deliberates for just under 7 hours before leaving for the weekend. — Eric Levenson, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2026 Defensive coordinator Stephen Belichick is on medical leave, leaving head coach Bill to potentially call plays for the defense. — Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for leaving

Noun

Sunday is expected to be the busiest day at O'Hare Airport, with more than 300,000 passengers arriving or departing.

— Lauren Victory, CBS News, 1 July 2026
While Schmid fills the role of a high-end backup, Florida still needs to acquire a starting-caliber goaltender prior to the start of the season with both Sergei Bobrovsky and Daniil Tarasov departing.

— Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 30 June 2026

Definition of departing

Verb

As temple members met their gruesome death, documents bequeathing some $7 million to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union were spirited out of Jonestown in a suitcase stuffed with cash.

— James Kirchick, The Atlantic, 13 Aug. 2026
William inherited the piece after her death in 1997, eventually bequeathing it to his wife.

— Hannah Malach, InStyle, 17 June 2026

Definition of bequeathing

Verb

Craig, now a devoted granddad with a dry sense of humor, began working alongside his father at thirteen, quitting school even though teachers warned him that house moving was a dying trade.

— Nicola Twilley, New Yorker, 27 Aug. 2026
Hep Spyder blamed Dwight for Buffo Carducci’s quitting on him back when Dwight was Hep’s tent boss.

— Ingrid Vasquez, PEOPLE, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of quitting

Verb

That scoreboard is now misleading, because the same AI wave letting those companies shed jobs is handing thousands of capable people the time and the reason to build something of their own.

— Lisa Curtis, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026
After missing the playoffs in 2025, Martin started off on a great note, handing a solid Mansfield program a 38-35 loss.

— Charles Baggarly August 29, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 Aug. 2026

Definition of handing

Verb

Hawaii cleans up after Hurricane Lala Communities struggled to recover after Tropical Storm Lala sideswiped Hawaii as a Category 1 hurricane, sparing the islands a direct hit but dumping more than 3½ feet of rain that caused catastrophic flooding.

— Robert Abitbol, USA Today, 22 Aug. 2026
Tasks included scooping and dumping sand or gravel, digging and grading trenches, clearing debris from roads, removing tree branches from water edges, and breaking up rocks.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of dumping

Verb

His first job out of law school was as a judge’s clerk at the Court of Appeal of New Zealand, giving him a front-row seat to consequential decisions—and to people who could disagree fiercely without letting those disagreements become personal.

— Preston Fore, Fortune, 29 Aug. 2026
With his final book, however, Morris refuses to draw conclusions, letting the ambiguity of Surrealists’ meanings stand.

— Kelly Presutti, ARTnews.com, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of letting

Noun

The news comes after Stern struck a new three year-contract with SiriusXM amid rumors of a retirement, or a show cancellation, which Stern pranked his listeners about by suggesting that Andy Cohen would take over his channel.

— Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 31 Aug. 2026
Benefits include health insurance, dental and life insurance and retirement benefits, Eagan said.

— Evy Lewis, Chicago Tribune, 31 Aug. 2026

Definition of retirement

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“Leaving.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/leaving. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of leaving

adjective

noun

verb

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