Basic Details
Word: Abdicated
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Gave up a throne, a title or an important duty, usually in a formal way. It is the past tense of abdicate.
Synonyms: renounced, resigned, relinquished, stepped down
Antonyms: assumed, claimed
How to Spell Abdicated
Syllables: ab - di - cat - ed
Tricky part: The weak vowel after the d is an i, though many write abdecated. Keep a single c and a single t: the stress is on ab, so nothing doubles before ed.
Watch out for: abdecated, abdicatted, abdiccated
Memory tip: Abdicated and dedicated end in the same seven letters, -dicated. Swap the de of dedicated for ab and you have it.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The king abdicated in favour of his young son and moved to a quiet palace in the hills.
Example 2: Our team captain more or less abdicated his duties once we started losing.
Example 3: In the play, the queen abdicated and chose to live as an ordinary weaver.
Fun Fact
In 2019 Emperor Akihito of Japan abdicated, the first Japanese emperor to do so in about two hundred years, and his son Naruhito took the throne.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word abdicated as used in the sentence:
The old raja abdicated the throne and spent his last years in a forest ashram.
a) assumed
b) surrendered
c) renounced
d) relinquished
Show answer
a) assumed. To assume a throne is to take it up, the reverse of giving it away; the other three all mean giving it up.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
abdicatted
a) c
b) t
c) d
d) i
Show answer
b) t. Abdicate is stressed on its first syllable, so the t stays single when ed is added.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
After losing the war, the emperor dcbatiaed and sailed into exile.
a) abated
b) dedicated
c) abducted
d) abdicated
Show answer
d) abdicated. The letters hold two a's, an i and no u, which fits abdicated and none of the look-alikes.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which person could be said to have abdicated?
a) a queen who gave up her crown
b) a soldier who won a medal
c) a minister who gave a speech
d) a prince who was born yesterday
Show answer
a) a queen who gave up her crown
2. A manager who abdicated responsibility for a problem ____.
a) refused to deal with it
b) wrote a book about it
c) reported it to the police
d) solved it quickly
Show answer
a) refused to deal with it
