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abet

12 synonyms and 1 antonym for abet, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.

Verb — To help or encourage someone to do something wrong, especially a crime.

Synonyms

Everyday swaps

Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.

Less common

Still standard English, but they carry more weight.

Rare, literary or technical

Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.

Synonyms by Meaning

1. verb

To help or encourage someone to do something wrong, especially a crime.

Opposites

2. verb

To support or back up a good cause, opinion or action.

3. verb

To push someone towards doing something worthwhile.

Etymology

From Middle English abetten, abette, from Old French abeter (“to entice”), from a- (“to”) + beter (“hound on, urge, to bait”), either from Middle Dutch bētan (“incite”) or from Old Norse beita (“to cause to bite, bait, incite”), from Proto-Germanic *baitijaną (“to cause to bite”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to...

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Synonyms and antonyms from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.