The examples below move from everyday formal prose to literary and analytical usage. Each sentence pairs the word with a noun that supports its full emotional force.
Example sentences
- The relief team encountered abject poverty in villages cut off by the floods.
- The product launch ended in abject failure after the system crashed within minutes.
- He offered an abject apology, accepting responsibility without qualification.
- The prisoners waited in abject misery, cold and uncertain of release.
- Her confidence gave way to abject fear when the lights failed.
- The treaty was portrayed by critics as an abject surrender.
- The satire turns a minor social mistake into an abject catastrophe.
- The narrator views the outcast with pity but also with unmistakable contempt.
- Years of neglect left the building in an abject state.
- The team’s defensive performance was an abject display of confusion.
Better and weaker fits
| Natural | Usually too much |
|---|---|
| abject poverty | abject inconvenience |
| abject failure | abject typo |
| abject terror | abject drizzle |
| abject surrender | abject delay |
Rewrite exercise
Compare “The plan failed” with “The plan ended in abject failure.” The first reports an outcome. The second judges the scale and dignity of that outcome. Strong adjectives should add meaning, not merely volume.
Frequently asked questions
Can I copy these examples?
You may use them for personal study and classroom discussion. For publication, write examples tailored to your own context.
Why are most examples serious?
The word naturally gravitates toward severe subjects, though comic exaggeration is possible.
Can it modify a concrete object?
Sometimes indirectly, as in “an abject dwelling,” but it more often modifies conditions, states, emotions, and outcomes.
Is “abjectly failed” natural?
No. “Failed abjectly” is possible but uncommon; “ended in abject failure” is more idiomatic.
Can I use it in a headline?
Yes, especially in commentary, but it makes a strong judgment and may reduce neutrality.
What is the safest synonym in plain writing?
Depending on context, use “extreme,” “complete,” “miserable,” “degrading,” or “humiliating.”