1
as in surrendered
to give (something) over to the control or possession of another usually under duress
the boy reluctantly relinquished the illegal fireworks to the police officer
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in resigned
to give up (as a position of authority) formally
the retiring CEO relinquished his position to the company's vice president with very mixed feelings
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 relinquished
The military relinquished its remaining ownership stake in the 1990s.
—
Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 June 2026
Rudin relinquished his Broadway producing duties in 2021 following allegations of bullying but returned last season with a transfer of Little Bear Ridge Road, also starring Metcalf.
—Vulture Editors, Vulture, 8 June 2026
In West Oakland, an old Greyhound terminal on Market Street converted to 102 apartments nearly a mile from a BART station relinquished the building back to the lender last year.
—Julia Prodis Sulek, Mercury News, 4 June 2026
Parry got out in front from the start, when Anisimova missed on a forehand and never relinquished the lead.
—James Hansen, New York Times, 30 May 2026
Days after being released on a 1 million-euro bail, the company announced that the 45-year-old has temporarily relinquished his roles as vice chairman and as a member of the board of directors.
—Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 26 May 2026
He’s relinquished that need to control the situation.
—Mckinley Franklin, HollywoodReporter, 24 May 2026
There are outs not to be relinquished on the bases.
—Gabriel Burns, AJC.com, 15 May 2026
Aries held the title for 298 days beginning in September 2011 and only relinquished it to get a shot at the TNA World Championship.
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 14 May 2026
Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 June 2026
Rudin relinquished his Broadway producing duties in 2021 following allegations of bullying but returned last season with a transfer of Little Bear Ridge Road, also starring Metcalf.
—Vulture Editors, Vulture, 8 June 2026
In West Oakland, an old Greyhound terminal on Market Street converted to 102 apartments nearly a mile from a BART station relinquished the building back to the lender last year.
—Julia Prodis Sulek, Mercury News, 4 June 2026
Parry got out in front from the start, when Anisimova missed on a forehand and never relinquished the lead.
—James Hansen, New York Times, 30 May 2026
Days after being released on a 1 million-euro bail, the company announced that the 45-year-old has temporarily relinquished his roles as vice chairman and as a member of the board of directors.
—Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 26 May 2026
He’s relinquished that need to control the situation.
—Mckinley Franklin, HollywoodReporter, 24 May 2026
There are outs not to be relinquished on the bases.
—Gabriel Burns, AJC.com, 15 May 2026
Aries held the title for 298 days beginning in September 2011 and only relinquished it to get a shot at the TNA World Championship.
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 14 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for relinquished
Verb
-
Carolina also surrendered a high number of goals before switching from Frederik Andersen to Brandon Bussi, who allowed three goals in Game 4 and two more in Game 5.—
Matt Reigle OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
14 June 2026
-
That remained the case on Friday, as the left-hander surrendered two longballs in the Yankees’ series-opening loss to the Blue Jays.—
Gary Phillips,
New York Daily News,
13 June 2026
Verb
-
Also running against him would be Wes Streeting, who last month resigned as health secretary to plan his own leadership challenge.—
Alexander Smith,
NBC news,
19 June 2026
-
Stronach resigned as Magna’s chairman in 2011 and founded his own political party in his native Austria the following year.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
19 June 2026
Verb
-
Traditional dubbing pipelines have struggled to keep pace with microdrama’s release cadence, and existing AI dubbing tools have drawn criticism for flat or artificially rendered performances.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
18 June 2026
-
If unethical actors can deploy custom frontier AI models to aggressively interrogate smart contracts and find hidden protocol flaws, human-only defensive audits will be rendered obsolete.—
Sean Stein Smith,
Forbes.com,
18 June 2026
Verb
-
Queen Elizabeth's uncle Edward VIII abdicated the throne within a year of his ascension in order to marry a two-time divorcée, Wallis Simpson.—
Marina Watts,
Entertainment Weekly,
2 June 2026
-
The Thorns were so concerned with Chawinga in that moment that the two defenders who went to try to force her onto her left foot completely abdicated the space that Hopkins was targeting with her run forward.—
Daniel Sperry,
Kansas City Star,
27 May 2026
Verb
-
As a federal holiday, mail is not delivered on this date and some businesses may be closed.—
Irene Wright,
USA Today,
19 June 2026
-
Canada had a great opportunity to score in the seventh minute, when Ali Ahmed delivered a perfect ball to Jonathan David, but Qatari goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada blocked his shot.—
Andrew Greif,
NBC news,
19 June 2026
Verb
-
What follows are dozens of examples of how those whose names are familiar (or aren’t) and legendary (or infamous) for their actions while representing the state have been embraced (or renounced) by the rest of the country and beyond.—
Kori Rumore,
Chicago Tribune,
6 June 2026
-
She’s since voted to block military aid to Israel and renounced the group.—
David Weigel,
semafor.com,
1 June 2026
Verb
-
In April, Betty Lindberg ceded that completing the Peachtree at 101 years old this July was probably not going to happen, the AJC’s Ken Sugiura writes.—
Nicole Bennett,
AJC.com,
19 June 2026
-
Lula also pushed back against Washington’s concerns over China’s expanding economic footprint in Latin America, arguing that the United States has ceded ground through inaction.—
Antonio María Delgado,
Miami Herald,
18 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Relinquished.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/relinquished. Accessed 21 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
