Python del keyword (original) (raw)
Last Updated : 11 Apr, 2025
The **del keyword in **Python is used to delete objects like variables, **lists, **dictionary entries, or slices of a list. Since everything in Python is an object, del helps remove references to these objects and can free up memory
**del Keyword removes the reference to an object. If that object has no other references, it gets cleared from memory. Trying to access a deleted variable or object will raise a **NameError.
Syntax
del object_name
**object_name: name of the object to delete (list, set dictionary, etc).
Del Keyword for Deleting Objects
In the example below, we will delete **Gfg_class using **del statement.
Python `
class Gfg_class: a = 20
creating instance of class
obj = Gfg_class()
delete object
del obj
we can also delete class
del Gfg_class
`
Deleting Variables
**del keyword can be used to delete variables too.
Python `
a = 20 b = "GeeksForGeeks"
delete both the variables
del a, b
check if a and b exists after deleting
print(a) print(b)
`
**Output:
NameError: name 'a' is not defined
**Explanation: del a, b removes the **existence of **a and b therefore **print() funciton is not able to find them.
List Slicing Using del Keyword
In the program below we will delete some parts of a list (basically slice the list) using **del keyword.
Python `
a = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
delete second element of 'a'
del a[1]
check if the second element in 'a' is deleted
print(a)
slice 'a' from index 3 to 5
del a[3:5]
check if the elements from index 3 to 5 in 'a' is deleted
print(a)
`
Output
[1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9] [1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9]
Deleting Dictionary and Removing key-value Pairs
In the program below we will remove few **key-value pairs from a **dictionary using **del keyword.
Python `
d = {"small": "big", "black": "white", "up": "down"}
delete key-value pair with key "black" from my_dict1
del d["black"]
check if the key-value pair with key "black" from d1 is deleted
print(d)
`
Output
{'small': 'big', 'up': 'down'}