Definition of abnegation
formal
: denial; especially : self-denial Monks practice abnegation of the material aspects of human life.
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Examples of abnegation in a Sentence
the couple's sudden abnegation of life in the fast lane for work as missionaries stunned everyone
Recent Examples of abnegation from the Web
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In Austen’s work, romantic union is seen not as the pragmatic abnegation of the self, but rather as the hopeful realization of it.
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Greatness, in the context of the administration’s economic ideology, is built on a ground laid thick with self-abnegation.
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In the 20th century, aristocratic restraint became middle-class self-abnegation.
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Those works stand at the extreme of a consecrated self-abnegation that governs all her art.
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The Cleveland convention, with its baying calls for Mrs. Clinton to be jailed and for the abnegation of civil rights movements, did Mr. Trump no harm.
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The recent debt-ceiling crisis was a complete abnegation of fact.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'abnegation.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
Abnegation plays an important part in the teachings of all the major religions. The founder of Buddhism was a prince who gave up all his worldly goods when he discovered the world of poverty that lay outside the palace gates, and abnegation has been a Buddhism practice ever since. Hinduism has an even older tradition of abnegation. Special periods of abnegation and fasting may even be included in a religion's yearly calendar; serious Christians give up some pleasure for the 40-day period of Lent, for instance, and Muslims are forbidden to eat during daylight hours during the month of Ramadan.
Origin and Etymology of abnegation
Middle English abnegacioun, borrowed from Late Latin abnegātiōn-, abnegātiō, from Latin abnegāre “to refute, decline, deny” + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of action nouns — more at abnegate
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