renounce
Americanverb (used with object)
-
renounces,
present (3rd person singular)
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renounced,
past participle, past
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renouncing
present participle
verb (used without object)
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renounces,
present (3rd person singular)
-
renounced,
past participle, past
-
renouncing
present participle
noun
verb
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(tr) to give up (a claim or right), esp by formal announcement
to renounce a title
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(tr) to repudiate
to renounce Christianity
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(tr) to give up (some habit, pursuit, etc) voluntarily
to renounce smoking
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(intr) cards to fail to follow suit because one has no cards of the suit led
noun
Synonym Usage
See abandon.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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renouncementnoun
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renouncernoun
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self-renouncementnoun
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nonrenouncingadjective
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renounceableadjective
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renunciableadjective
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self-renouncedadjective
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self-renouncingadjective
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unrenounceableadjective
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unrenouncedadjective
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unrenouncingadjective
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unrenunciableadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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renouncesimple
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renouncessimple
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have renouncedperfect
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has renouncedperfect
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am renouncingprogressive
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are renouncingprogressive
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is renouncingprogressive
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have been renouncingperfect progressive
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has been renouncingperfect progressive
Past
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renouncedsimple
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had renouncedperfect
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was renouncingprogressive
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were renouncingprogressive
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had been renouncingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of renounce
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English renouncen, from Middle French renoncer, from Latin renūntiāre “to bring back word, disclaim,” equivalent to re- re- + nūntiāre “to announce,” derivative of nūntius “messenger, news”
Explanation
To renounce is to officially give up or turn away from. If you decide to become a vegetarian, you will renounce hamburgers and bacon. The transitive verb renounce is a stronger, more formal way of saying that you reject or disown something. A prince who's tired of the royal life could renounce his title and become a commoner, and a senator who wanted to become an independent would have to renounce her ties to her previous political party. You'd be wise to heed the wisdom of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who said: “To renounce liberty is to renounce being a man, to surrender the rights of humanity and even its duties.”
Vocabulary lists containing renounce
The New SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words
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Ender's Game
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Little Women
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It read: "I have this afternoon issued a letter signed by Jeffrey Donaldson to the Cabinet Office indicating a request to renounce and forfeit his knighthood."
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026
The U.S. doesn’t hold a grudge against those who renounce citizenship.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026
Draining a few isn’t enough to make them renounce their loyalty to his congregation, known as the Beautiful Unwell.
From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026
In a call with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi, Wadephul stressed that Germany supported a negotiated solution but that "Iran must completely and verifiably renounce nuclear weapons and immediately open the Strait of Hormuz".
From Barron's ● May 4, 2026
It was a way to start over, to renounce vanity, to spite love.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Senior US official Dan Negrea said the US delegation would continue to make similar stands until France "renounces their condescending and disrespectful rhetoric".
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
"By yielding to pressure, it weakens collective action and renounces its potential leading role," she told AFP.
From Barron's ● Apr. 23, 2026
A disclaimer is a legal document in which someone renounces an asset that was set to be inherited.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026
When Elisabeta is killed, he renounces God and sets off on his quest for his love.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2026
A literal prose version of such poetry must needs be unsatisfactory, because it studiously ignores the chief points in which the attractiveness of the original consists, and deliberately renounces all attempt to reproduce them.
From The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam by Omar Khayyam
Although Benjamin Disraeli - prime minister in the late-1800s - was born to a Jewish family, his father renounced Judaism and had his children baptised into the Church of England.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
Hilton became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2021 and last year renounced his British citizenship.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
“Once someone has renounced, the ongoing filings end.”
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026
Later she discovered he had renounced his Italian citizenship when becoming an American citizen, making that route unavailable for her.
From Barron's ● Jun. 7, 2026
He set down every evil thought he had and renounced it.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
The lower fee for renouncing citizenship “may remove a symbolic administrative barrier to renunciation, but it does not change the core financial analysis,” Concepción said.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026
St Francis founded the Franciscan order after renouncing his wealth and devoting his life to the poor.
From Barron's ● Feb. 22, 2026
In 2020, she ran for president, renouncing her anti-LGBTQ views and apologizing for her earlier stance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 4, 2026
By week’s end he had withdrawn the threats, without formally renouncing the goal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 24, 2026
He was renouncing his imprisonment, our authority, the entire system that had placed him there.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
