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
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
That abnegation of critical judgment is the most important feature of the 1994 statement.
—Michael Bérubé, The New Republic, 21 Mar. 2022
Where to go in a world where every slight, every frown, every chagrin, every cloud and every rainy day is a cause for outrage, denunciation, shame, self-abnegation and maybe even a congressional investigation or two?
—WSJ, 14 June 2021
See All Example Sentences for 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
That abnegation of critical judgment is the most important feature of the 1994 statement.
—Michael Bérubé, The New Republic, 21 Mar. 2022
Where to go in a world where every slight, every frown, every chagrin, every cloud and every rainy day is a cause for outrage, denunciation, shame, self-abnegation and maybe even a congressional investigation or two?
—WSJ, 14 June 2021
See All Example Sentences for abnegation
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abnegation
Noun
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The ceremony last year stirred controversy because of the absence of the U.S. ambassador and other Western envoys in response to the Japanese city’s refusal to invite officials from Israel.—
Mari Yamaguchi,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Aug. 2025
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Ghana’s communication regulator, the National Communications Authority (NCA), has ordered the local shutdown of MultiChoice – Africa’s largest pay-TV operator — in 30 days from now, on Sept. 8, due to the streamer’s refusal to cut its subscription rate by 30%.—
Thinus Ferreira,
Variety,
8 Aug. 2025
Noun
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When the late Pope Francis was elected, a dozen years ago, and famously declined the pomp and perquisites typically associated with the office, among his renunciations was the use of the papal summer residence—a seventeenth-century palazzo in Castel Gandolfo, about fifteen miles south of Rome.—
Rebecca Mead,
New Yorker,
28 July 2025
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This is largely due to the renunciation of complete sovereignty and the sharing of resources that the EU has encouraged for almost 60 years now.—
Frank-Walter Steinmeier,
Foreign Affairs,
13 June 2016
Noun
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Ambiguities or omissions can result in a denial of the guarantee.—
Adam Craig,
Forbes.com,
6 Aug. 2025
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The result has been a denial of basic health care to people most in need of it, and a denial of control, dignity and self-determination.—
Don Aptekar,
Denver Post,
4 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Abnegation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abnegation. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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