Desist Meaning
/dɪˈsɪst/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo cease to proceed or act; to stop (often with from).
Sentence Examples
I demand that you cease and desist from sending unsolicited emails.
Could you kindly desist from throwing peanuts from the gallery?
CEFR Practice Quiz
The judge ordered the protesters to ____ from blocking the entrance.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I demand that you cease and ____ from sending unsolicited emails.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Middle French desisterbor. English desist Borrowed from Middle French desister, from Latin dēsistō, from dē- + sistō (whence de-).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"One Ear was uttering quick, eager whines, lunging at the length of his stick toward the darkness, and desisting now and again in order to make frantic attacks on the stick with his teeth."
— 1906 May–October, Jack London, chapter I, in White Fang, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., published October 1906, →OCLC, part 1 (The Wild):
"After hearing[,] an order was entered requiring respondent to cease and desist the practice complained of under section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission act."
— 1921, Annual Report of the Federal Trade Commission, page 173:
"Desist the kind of thinking that gets you into trouble. Thinking is in itself fine, but grabbing onto thoughts and images of your self will bring you suffering. Once you learn how to desist, how to let go of your ego-grasping mind, then cease thinking ..."
— 2005, Gerry Shishin Wick, The Book of Equanimity: Illuminating Classic Zen Koans, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 307:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The judge ordered the protesters to ____ from blocking the entrance.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I demand that you cease and ____ from sending unsolicited emails.