quit 1 of 2

1
as in to leave
to give up (a job or office) he decided to quit his job at the fast-food restaurant

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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as in to succumb
to cease resistance (as to another's arguments, demands, or control) tried to persuade his daughter to remain at home, but eventually he just quit and let her go out on her own

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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as in to pay
to give what is owed for eager to quit all debts before starting married life

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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quit

2 of 2

adjective

as in free
no longer burdened with something unpleasant or painful I am finally quit of that terrible task

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How is the word quit distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of quit are cease, desist, discontinue, and stop. While all these words mean "to suspend or cause to suspend activity," quit may stress either finality or abruptness in stopping or ceasing.

the engine faltered, sputtered, then quit altogether

When is it sensible to use cease instead of quit?

The words cease and quit are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, cease applies to states, conditions, or existence and may add a suggestion of gradualness and a degree of finality.

by nightfall the fighting had ceased

When is desist a more appropriate choice than quit?

While the synonyms desist and quit are close in meaning, desist implies forbearance or restraint as a motive for stopping or ceasing.

desisted from further efforts to persuade them

When would discontinue be a good substitute for quit?

While in some cases nearly identical to quit, discontinue applies to the stopping of an accustomed activity or practice.

we have discontinued the manufacture of that item

When could stop be used to replace quit?

In some situations, the words stop and quit are roughly equivalent. However, stop applies to action or progress or to what is operating or progressing and may imply suddenness or definiteness.

stopped at the red light

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 quit
Verb
Two of his staff members quit amid the furor. Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Sep. 2025 Carini quit her Olympic bout against Khelif after just 46 seconds, as images of the Algerian's punches against Carini shook viewers across the world. Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 13 Sep. 2025 As Jobs started to take over more and more portions of the project, the two men came into more frequent conflict, and Raskin eventually quit Apple for good in March 1982. Cameron Kaiser, ArsTechnica, 12 Sep. 2025 In quintessential Midwest fashion, Mitch didn’t even quit his day job at the pizzeria until two weeks into the sessions. Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 12 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for quit
Recent Examples of Synonyms for quit
Verb
  • Much of central Saskatchewan received less than half an inch of rainfall in April and May, leaving many wetlands dry.
    Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 16 Sep. 2025
  • Among its 14 plant oils are argan kernel and rice bran, which regulate sebum production and loosen dead skin cells, respectively—and, together, leave your pores looking significantly smaller and your skin significantly smoother.
    Sophia Panych, Allure, 16 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The Tesla was taken to Hollywood Tow after a person reported that it had been abandoned, NBC Los Angeles previously reported.
    Andrew Blankstein, NBC news, 19 Sep. 2025
  • The city finally towed the sedan after a citizen complained that the car had been abandoned for more than 72 hours.
    Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 18 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The defense for Texas has held up its end of the bargain, stopping the run well, allowing one of the lowest rushing yard totals per game in the country.
    Ben Verbrugge, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Sep. 2025
  • Central finally stopped the bleeding late in the half on a TD pass from Smith to Jeremiah Mateo Mora.
    Matt Roy, Boston Herald, 20 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Here are some steps to prevent your team from succumbing to the sense of powerlessness associated with the Great Lock-In trend.
    Juliette Han, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
  • And when Jîna succumbed to her injuries on September 16, the Shargh reporter Niloofar Hamedi defied orders to keep quiet and told the world about her death in a tweet.
    Fatemeh Jamalpour, Literary Hub, 15 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The university also asks the court to order online marketplaces, payment processors and other companies that do business with the defendants from disabling and ceasing to provide services.
    Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 20 Sep. 2025
  • After about two more decades of ice retreat, two tributaries to the north and south of the Alsek Glacier ceased feeding ice to the glacier, NASA reported.
    Jasmine Laws, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • In 2022, things came to a head when the company not only failed to pay its vendors but also ceased communication with their customers.
    Amanda Lauren, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
  • The buyers also agree to pay those growers a small premium that is passed down to their workers.
    Max Blau, ProPublica, 16 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • As time went on, though, Damon Wayans left after season 3, while creator/writer/star Keenen Ivory Wayans had conflicts with the network's increasing censorship and broadcasting issues and departed after the fourth season; other members of the Wayans family — Marlon, Kim, and Shawn — soon followed.
    Elliott Smith, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Sep. 2025
  • In 2020, four years after departing from her eponymous brand, Brown returned to her roots to launch Jones Road with a mission to create clean cosmetics–much to the delight of her loyal fan base.
    Ellie Davis, Vogue, 18 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Design With Flexibility In Mind Users don’t always behave as expected, often deviating from the ideal path designers envision.
    Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
  • The images could help scientists further develop theories of how matter behaves in the extreme environments around supermassive black holes, which have masses of millions or even billions of suns and are found at the hearts of all large galaxies.
    Robert Lea, Space.com, 16 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Quit.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quit. Accessed 23 Sep. 2025.

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