Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A candidate for a doctorate who has completed all the requirements for the degree, such as courses and examinations, with the exception of the dissertation.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A common element in Arabic names of persons, meaning servant: as, Abdallah, servant of God; Abd-el-Kader, servant of the Mighty One; Abd-ul-Latif (commonly written
Abdullatif or Abdallatif), servant of the Gracious One.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- initialism academics All but dissertation: A description of the status of a
doctoral student who has completed allPhD degree requirements except the doctoraldissertation .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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"The Bullard view is what I call the ABD policy: Anything But Deflation," said Stephen Wood, the New York-based chief market strategist for Russell Investments, which manages $149 billion.
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One of the unfortunate side-effects of being ABD is that I no longer feel deserving of treating myself to time off during that week when all of the undergraduates disappear.
Archive 2006-03-01 ScienceWoman 2006
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The thing that annoys me the most about being ABD is the lack of a concrete schedule.
Archive 2005-07-01 2005
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I hate to drag him away from his current job -- but yet I hate to stay stuck in ABD land much longer, or take a year off after earning the doctorate.
On Uncertainty 2005
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The thing that annoys me the most about being ABD is the lack of a concrete schedule.
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I hate to drag him away from his current job -- but yet I hate to stay stuck in ABD land much longer, or take a year off after earning the doctorate.
Archive 2005-08-01 2005
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Introduced at an appallingly early hour this morning by Bardiac, in response to the lack of early authors in a female authors meme started by Mon at My so-called ABD life.
The Really Dead Women Writers Meme Heo 2006
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Introduced at an appallingly early hour this morning by Bardiac, in response to the lack of early authors in a female authors meme started by Mon at My so-called ABD life.
Archive 2006-04-01 Heo 2006
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Today in Saudi Arabia, a land with many 100,000s of SLAVES (yes, SLAVES, Skippy!) of ALL races, a Black African is still referred to as an "ABD", or SLAVE (as in ABDULLAH, or "Slave of Allah")!
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Online kullanıcı sayısının dünya çapında hızla artmasına karşın, 'Süper Güç' ABD'nin, internet kullanımındaki payının azalması dikkatleri çekiyor.
Turk.internet.com 2009
tankhughes commented on the word ABD
"all but dissertation" https://kconrod.medium.com/so-youre-abd-and-also-you-re-beginning-to-suspect-you-have-undiagnosed-adhd-661c57e99b7d
June 5, 2025