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?

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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

By Tuesday night, more than 800 people had signed it, according to the petition, with 26 leaving comments. — Verónica Egui Brito, Miami Herald, 22 Sep. 2026 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

Pattison joined Ricochet more than two years ago after leaving the UK arm of Pooch Perfect outfit Beyond Productions. — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 16 Oct. 2026 Ambulances were seen leaving the hospital to bring the children's bodies home as mourners wept and wailed. — Arkansas Online, 16 Oct. 2026 Mandell’s wife, Elizabeth Heller Mandell, a gallery owner, nonprofit consultant and arts patron from a prominent California family, predeceased him, leaving him in a position to extend her philanthropic work. — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026 The country has no official state mechanism dedicated to tracking antisemitic incidents, leaving community organizations to document cases and prompting concerns that many experiences are never formally recorded. — Ariella Noveck, FOXNews.com, 15 Oct. 2026 The Senate health committee did not vote on whether to advance Overton to the Senate floor before departing earlier this month, leaving the decision for the lame duck session. — David Lim, semafor.com, 15 Oct. 2026 As co-founder Jennifer Mantz noted, total surprise gifts carry intrinsic risks, often leaving recipients feeling guilty or uncomfortable when an item misses the mark completely. — Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 15 Oct. 2026 Inaccurate existing models Conventional power generation uses high-temperature steam to turn turbines, leaving vast amounts of low-temperature waste heat uncaptured. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 8 Oct. 2026 That is not really evidence that management is leaving the manager role. — Keith Ferrazzi, Fortune, 8 Oct. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for leaving

Noun

Have your camera ready when arriving or departing, as the staff usually perform an entertaining song and dance in traditional costumes.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026
Kronberg said the aircraft landed safely but became disabled at the end of the runway, preventing other flights from arriving and departing.

— Sally Krutzig, Idaho Statesman, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of departing

Verb

Carreira cautioned against abandoning wholesale too early, however, as retailers remain vital for reaching customers and building visibility.

— Rhonda Richford, Footwear News, 17 Oct. 2026
Advertisement Dialogue does not mean abandoning our values, excusing aggression, or accepting injustice.

— Halla Tómasdóttir, Time, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of abandoning

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

Theo was thinking about quitting his job to start his own business, which meant, for a time, no income.

— Joan Martelli, Time, 17 Oct. 2026
Of the men who were part of the original study's AAS-using cohort, 35 were still taking the drugs, while the remaining participants were in varying stages of quitting, long-term abstinence and relapse.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of quitting

Verb

Chisell, who previously worked at Amazon, eBay and Starling Bank, estimates that Paysend can now deliver around 25% more engineering work with the same-sized team, but argues that getting results isn’t as simple as handing everyone the latest tech.

— Lindsay Dodgson, CNBC, 17 Oct. 2026
The pro-Western opposition parties won big Saturday in the Czech Republic’s vote to fill one-third of the seats in Parliament’s upper house, the Senate, handing a blow to the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš.

— ABC News, ABC News, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of handing

Verb

Analysts are perking up about CoreWeave, even though investors are dumping shares and interest rates are rising in the economy.

— Tobias Burns, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2026
Standing water and dumping rodents put a country club restaurant in timeout after an inspection Friday.

— David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of dumping

Verb

Of course, one is inevitably loaded with expectations and prejudices, but the ideal of letting the work teach you how to consider it, as the philosopher Stanely Cavell counseled, is a useful starting point.

— Lola Seaton, The New York Review of Books, 17 Oct. 2026
While the labs may argue that AI can do this better than humans could, there’s a possibility that letting AI largely grade its own homework is part of how these failures slip through.

— Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of letting

Noun

Just 58% of American adults own stock, Gallup found in April, much of it held in retirement accounts.

— Sarah Cannon, Fortune, 18 Oct. 2026
With a pending lockout, expiring player contracts and possible retirements, who knows what the future will hold.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of retirement

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Style

“Leaving.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/leaving. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of leaving

adjective

noun

verb

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