Meaning & use
resigned
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Having accepted something unwelcome calmly, because you believe you cannot change it.
Grammar: Often followed by to: she was resigned to the delay.
Patterns
- resigned to something
- resigned to doing something
He gave a resigned shrug when the train was cancelled.
She was resigned to a long wait at the clinic.
With a resigned sigh, Ben picked up the broom again.
verbtransitive or intransitive
Past tense and past participle of resign: formally gave up a job or position.
Grammar: Intransitive with from, or transitive with an object such as a post: she resigned from her job.
Patterns
- resign from something
- resign as something
The manager resigned after the scandal.
She resigned from the committee last week.
He resigned as captain after the loss.
Word forms
| comparative | more resigned |
|---|---|
| superlative | most resigned |
Common combinations
- resigned to
- We are resigned to losing.
- resigned sigh
- She let out a resigned sigh.
- resigned tone
- He spoke in a resigned tone.
- resigned expression
- His resigned expression said it all.
- quietly resigned
- She was quietly resigned to her fate.
Synonyms and how they differ
- accepting
- Accepting is neutral and can be positive, while resigned suggests accepting because there is no choice.
- fatalistic
- Fatalistic describes a belief that events are fixed, but resigned describes a mood in a particular moment.
- submissive
- Submissive suggests obeying others, while resigned is about giving up hope of change.
Opposites
Word family
- resign verb
- to quit a job, or accept something with sadness
- resignation noun
- a formal quitting, or calm acceptance
- resignedly adverb
- in a resigned way
Commonly confused: resigned or re-signed?
resigned vs re-signed
Re-signed with a hyphen means signed again, as when a player re-signed a contract; resigned means gave up.
Practice
After weeks of failed appeals, Dana became ___ to living with the noise from the building site.
Choose one answer.
Resigned to means accepting because nothing can be done. Resentful is a tempting feeling, but it takes about rather than to.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “resigned”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.