Disuse
/dɪsˈjuːs/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe state of not being used; neglect.
verbTo cease the use of.
Sentence Examples
This costume has fallen into disuse.
Liberty is a possession that grows with use but wilts with disuse.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The old warehouse fell into ____ because no one needed it anymore.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
This costume has fallen into ____.
Word Origin & History
From Old French desuser, equivalent to dis- + use.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The decline and eventual closing of the various industrial undertakings and the non-renewal of the L.N.W.R. lease led to the railway falling into disuse, and most of it has now been lifted."
— 1957 October 26, William J. Skillern, “The Brynmawr & Western Valleys Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 697:
"Whether in process of time Shakspeare grew weary of the bondage of rhyme, or whether he became convinced of its impropriety in a dramatick dialogue, his neglect of rhyming (for he never wholly disused it) seems to have been gradual."
— 1790, Edmond Malone, The Plays and Poems of William Shakespeare, London: H. Baldwin, Volume I, p. 194, footnote:
"Whether a rotten state, and hope of gaine,
Or to disuse mee from the queasie paine
Of being belov'd, and loving, or the thirst
Of honour, or faire death, out pusht mee first,
I lose my end: for here as well as I
A desperate may live, and a coward die."
— 1597, John Donne, The Calm, lines 39–44:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The old warehouse fell into ____ because no one needed it anymore.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
This costume has fallen into ____.