as in refusal
the act or practice of giving up or rejecting something once enjoyed or desired
the couple's sudden abnegation of life in the fast lane for work as missionaries stunned everyone
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Recent Examples of abnegation
Is that an abnegation of interviewer responsibility?
—
David Marchese David Marchese Photograph By Mamadi Doumbouya, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2023
The life that Alharthi describes is one of almost saintly self-abnegation.
—Ron Charles, Washington Post, 24 May 2022
His naïve insolence punctures the vanities of other filmmakers while offering no alternative, and the movie that results is a joyless, confused self-abnegation.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2022
The explicit and quasi-religious abnegation of the right to violent self-defense put the national committee at odds with one of its key allies during the Saturday march: Black Lives Matter.
—Samantha Eyler, Foreign Affairs, 31 Jan. 2017
See All Example Sentences for abnegation
David Marchese David Marchese Photograph By Mamadi Doumbouya, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2023
The life that Alharthi describes is one of almost saintly self-abnegation.
—Ron Charles, Washington Post, 24 May 2022
His naïve insolence punctures the vanities of other filmmakers while offering no alternative, and the movie that results is a joyless, confused self-abnegation.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2022
The explicit and quasi-religious abnegation of the right to violent self-defense put the national committee at odds with one of its key allies during the Saturday march: Black Lives Matter.
—Samantha Eyler, Foreign Affairs, 31 Jan. 2017
See All Example Sentences for abnegation
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abnegation
Noun
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Artificial intelligence systems do not possess human intelligence and therefore should not be granted rights or protections reserved for people, as evidenced by the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear a case challenging the requirement that copyrightable works must have human authorship.—
Business Columnist,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Mar. 2026
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But for those who are tending toward cosmetic refusal anyway, the Commission’s words might be just the spiritual ticket.—
Marci Robin,
Allure,
6 Mar. 2026
Noun
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British psychiatrist Humphry Osmond, who took part in a peyote ceremony with a First Nations group the Red Pheasant Band in Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1956, intuited the necessity of community, empathy, and ego renunciation during the psychedelic process.—
Erica Rex,
STAT,
19 Feb. 2026
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Keep in mind, though, that renunciation is considered permanent.—
Liz Weston,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
15 Feb. 2026
Noun
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While Congress recently took an important step by enacting PBM reform, that alone will not fix the systemic delays and denials facing cancer patients today.—
Alex Mejia Garcia,
The Orlando Sentinel,
8 Mar. 2026
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Immigration bond denial rates by month have risen since last summer, from less than 50% in June to more than 62% in December, according to data from Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.—
Kristen Taketa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Abnegation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abnegation. Accessed 13 Mar. 2026.
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