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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Despite chang’s antiquity, Tibetans have their share of teetotalers and prohibitionists.—
Geoff Childs,
The Conversation,
1 May 2026
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For a teetotaler like me, the bartender created a mean zero-proof cocktail with bitter notes, similar to a Negroni.—
John Wogan,
Travel + Leisure,
11 Apr. 2026
Noun
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There's plenty for nondrinkers, too.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
6 May 2026
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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
Cite this Entry
“Abstainer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abstainer. Accessed 16 May. 2026.
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