as in dry
a person who abstains from alcoholic beverages
for religious reasons she's been a total abstainer her entire life
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Recent Examples of abstainer
Strikingly, this came at the expense of the time workers spent on highly focused, uninterrupted work, which fell by 9 percent for AI users, and stayed the same for AI abstainers.
—
Frank Landymore, Futurism, 12 Mar. 2026
Heavier drinkers had higher mortality than lighter drinkers, but the study excluded lifelong abstainers — many of whom stop drinking because of illness or medication use.
—Robert M. Kaplan, STAT, 1 Jan. 2026
Frank Landymore, Futurism, 12 Mar. 2026
Heavier drinkers had higher mortality than lighter drinkers, but the study excluded lifelong abstainers — many of whom stop drinking because of illness or medication use.
—Robert M. Kaplan, STAT, 1 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abstainer
Noun
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Americans are drinking less than ever—and a growing share are teetotalers.—
The Week US,
TheWeek,
13 Jan. 2026
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In recent years, bars across the city have started offering mocktails and non-alcoholic beer and wine so teetotalers aren't limited to soda water and lime.—
Data Reporter,
Austin American Statesman,
8 Jan. 2026
Noun
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For the drinker-nondrinker, Dry January might feel like a nice reset or a worthwhile experiment.—
Senior Wine Critic,
San Francisco Chronicle,
8 Jan. 2026
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Those studies, however, focused on older people and didn’t differentiate between former drinkers and lifelong nondrinkers, thus potentially skewing the results, study authors said.—
Sandee LaMotte,
CNN Money,
23 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Abstainer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abstainer. Accessed 8 Apr. 2026.
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