as in ascetic
given to or marked by restraint in the satisfaction of one's appetites
being abstemious diners, they avoid restaurants with all-you-can-eat buffets
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Recent Examples of abstemious
The solution offered up by some: the sort of abstemious, low-fat, often vegetarian, diets that had been prescribed as lust-control regimens only decades earlier.
—
Rachel Hope Cleves / Made By History, TIME, 14 Feb. 2025
Caroline Schiff, 38, the executive pastry chef at Brooklyn’s Gage & Tollner, says that a decade ago, abstemious diners often asked for sliced fruit in lieu of sugary creations.
—Ella Quittner, New York Times, 1 Dec. 2023
For the more abstemious, a bottle of Non3 ($30), a zero-proof sipping drink with notes of cinnamon and yuzu and a slightly tannic finish, alongside a Massimo Lunardon weird-little-dude goblet ($155)—not its official name, but certainly an accurate description of its weird-little-dudeness.
—Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 19 Nov. 2023
Low mass has always been a Miata virtue, endowing the car with not just precise handling but also an abstemious appetite for tires and fuel.
—Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 21 July 2023
See All Example Sentences for abstemious
Rachel Hope Cleves / Made By History, TIME, 14 Feb. 2025
Caroline Schiff, 38, the executive pastry chef at Brooklyn’s Gage & Tollner, says that a decade ago, abstemious diners often asked for sliced fruit in lieu of sugary creations.
—Ella Quittner, New York Times, 1 Dec. 2023
For the more abstemious, a bottle of Non3 ($30), a zero-proof sipping drink with notes of cinnamon and yuzu and a slightly tannic finish, alongside a Massimo Lunardon weird-little-dude goblet ($155)—not its official name, but certainly an accurate description of its weird-little-dudeness.
—Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 19 Nov. 2023
Low mass has always been a Miata virtue, endowing the car with not just precise handling but also an abstemious appetite for tires and fuel.
—Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 21 July 2023
See All Example Sentences for abstemious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abstemious
Adjective
-
Once inside, warm, tropical breezes flow into the hotel’s ascetic, nevertheless grand lobby, wafting you towards a magical cloister filled with plants and robust Botero sculptures.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
13 Jan. 2026
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The bulk of the album has been painted with a similarly ascetic palette.—
Philip Sherburne,
Pitchfork,
6 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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This region is similar to the Northeast but slightly more temperate and with more regular rainfall.—
Peg Aloi,
The Spruce,
17 Feb. 2026
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The dammuso stays temperate thanks to its 19-to-23-inch-thick stone walls, which slowly absorb heat during the day and release it at night, and its domes—more than 13-feet tall—that allow rising heat to dissipate above the living spaces.—
Abby Montanez,
Robb Report,
8 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Some people want to remain abstinent to focus on their own personal growth, while others have resorted to it after becoming frustrated with today's dating culture.—
Suzanne Blake,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 Nov. 2025
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Ivan Neville has been on a few times and always talks being abstinent.—
Shirley Halperin,
Rolling Stone,
1 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Abstemious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abstemious. Accessed 19 Feb. 2026.
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