ab-

Usage

• abortive

  An abortive attempt or action is cut short before it is finished; hence, it is unsuccessful.

• abhor

  If you abhor something, you dislike it very much, usually because you think it's immoral.

• abnegation

  Your abnegation of something is your giving up your rights or claim to it, even though it might not be in your best interest to do so.

• ablution

  When you perform your ablutions, you wash yourself; this can be part of a religious ceremony as well.

• ablation

  The process of ablation is the removal of diseased organs or harmful substances from the body, often through surgical procedure.

• abject

  The word abject emphasizes a very bad situation or quality, thereby making it even worse.

• abdicate

  If someone abdicates, they give up their responsibility for something, such as a king's transfer of power when he gives up his throne.

• aberrant

  When something is aberrant, it is unusual, not socially acceptable, or a departure from the norm.

• abrasive

  Someone who has an abrasive manner is unkind and rude, wearing away at you in an irritating fashion.

• abominate

  If you abominate something, you hate it because you think it is extremely wrong and unacceptable.

• abjure

  If you abjure a belief or a way of behaving, you state publicly that you will give it up or reject it.

• absolve

  When you absolve someone, you publicly and formally say that they are not guilty or responsible for any wrongdoing.

• disabuse

  If you disabuse someone of an idea or notion, you persuade them that the idea is in fact untrue.

• abrogate

  To abrogate an act is to end it by official and sometimes legal means.

• inveigle

  If you inveigle somebody, you cleverly manipulate them—usually by flattery or persuasion—to do something for you that they don't want to do.

• abundant

  When you have an abundant amount of something, there is a lot or plenty of it.

• abnormal

  That which is abnormal is unusual or out of the ordinary in some way.

• absorb

  When something, such as a sponge, absorbs something else, such as water, it soaks it up or physically takes it in.

• advantage

  An advantage is something that someone has that makes them more likely to succeed than someone who doesn't have it.

• absolute

  If you know something with absolute certainty, you are total or complete in your belief in it.