desuete

D2E1S1U1E1T1E1
US/ˈdɛswɪt/US/ˈdɛsjuːiːt/

adjective

Disused; out of use.

Scrabble 8

Meanings

adjectivedesuete (comparative more desuete, superlative most desuete)

comparative more desuete · superlative most desuete

  1. Disused; out of use.

    These opinions, founded on desuete customs are generally erroneous.

    1905, Missouri. Department of Education, Report of the Public Schools of the State of Missouri, page 55
    4 more examples

    Every act that has not been repealed or expired is given, it being apprehended that no statute can ever according to the English law, technically speaking, become desuete or obsolete.

    1819, The Practical Abridgement of the Laws of Customs and Excise, page 10

    Since the day of Mr. Brummell and King George, the noble art of self-adornment had fallen partially desuete.

    1894, Sir Max Beerbohm, The Works of Max Beerbohm, published 2019

    According to modern methods the intermediate entry is dispensed with, also the desuete Day-book, the first entry being made in books specially designed, and the final entry in the Ledger, the design of which is continued in its primitive simplicity.

    1901, Prince Albert Wright, Wright's Bookkeeping Simplified, page 92

    Scarce seemeth it true that man can believe A human mind would such horrors conceive, As there were enwrought out of red men's bones, And bodies desuete, responsive to spells By which man keeps them, until he atones For the worship of self, which in all men dwells;

    1911, George Studson Delano, Sasanoa and the Wool Witch: A Romance of Legendary History, page 38

Synonyms & antonyms

Origin

  1. Latindēsuētus“unused”
  2. Englishdesuete

Probably via Italian, from Latin dēsuētus (“unused”), past participle of dēsuēscō (“to disuse”), from dē- + suēscō (“to make use of”).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

desuete. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/desuete

MLA

“desuete.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/desuete. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “desuete,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/desuete.

Source: desuete on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.