ABSTAINING Synonyms: 31 Similar and Opposite Words

abstaining

verb

present participle of abstain

as in refusing

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for abstaining

Verb

But a few months after her first birthday, Karuna began refusing meals.

— Raj Panjabi, Time, 13 Oct. 2026
Trump, in a Truth Social post, accused the media of hypocrisy for allegedly refusing to cover past purchases of Russian energy by the European Union.

— Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of refusing

Verb

This may involve rejecting a command, removing write access, isolating the AI, transferring control back to the operator or moving equipment into a safe state.

— Gregory Shahnovsky, Forbes.com, 13 Oct. 2026
The sense was that the people who were rejecting the Keynesian model were throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

— Greg Rosalsky, NPR, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of rejecting

Verb

John only found peace by giving up the ring, turning down the gig, and forging his own path.

— Ben Travers, IndieWire, 4 Oct. 2026
The woman accused of keeping him captive, 58-year-old Kimberly Sullivan, is expected to head to trial after turning down two plea deals during a hearing in Waterbury Superior Court earlier this month.

— Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 26 Sep. 2026

Definition of turning down

Verb

But experts have worried that doctors are hesitating to offer treatment without an ironclad diagnosis, which clinicians say can take time and increase risks to the mother.

— Andrea Suozzo, ProPublica, 9 Sep. 2026
Fertilizer is often bought months ahead of planting, so hesitating in the fall can mean less goes on the ground in the spring.

— Jayash Paudel, The Conversation, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of hesitating

Verb

And more people are entering the system than leaving it, delaying help for newly homeless families.

— Nicole Santa Cruz, ProPublica, 9 Oct. 2026
Though profits and revenue growth have generally been strong this year, the IPO market has stalled, with Oura and Bamboo Insurance delaying their offerings last month.

— Morgan Chittum, Fortune, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of delaying

Verb

Only its convenient foods division in Europe, the Middle East and Africa reported declining volume, of 1%.

— Amelia Lucas, CNBC, 8 Oct. 2026
Since the 1960s, bowling as a business has fallen, with the number of bowling centers in the United States declining by roughly 75% from a peak of about 12,000 to some 3,000.

— Eric Adler, Kansas City Star, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of declining

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Cite this Entry

Style

“Abstaining.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abstaining. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of abstaining

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

outlandish

Popular in Grammar & Usage

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Popular in Wordplay

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Popular

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

Games & Quizzes