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
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.
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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
While that might sound painfully abstemious or downright torturous, We Care has a few key things going for it.
—Liz Krieger, Town & Country, 1 Mar. 2023
In Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood, you’re reminded that South Korea is neither homogeneous nor locked into an abstemious order.
—E. Tammy Kim, The New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2022
See All Example Sentences for abstemious
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
While that might sound painfully abstemious or downright torturous, We Care has a few key things going for it.
—Liz Krieger, Town & Country, 1 Mar. 2023
In Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood, you’re reminded that South Korea is neither homogeneous nor locked into an abstemious order.
—E. Tammy Kim, The New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2022
See All Example Sentences for abstemious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abstemious
Adjective
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Meanwhile, narratives of Ayyappan usually describe him as a god raised as a human prince who becomes a warrior and finally an ascetic.—
Deepa Das Acevedo,
Foreign Affairs,
4 Apr. 2019
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This is especially clear in the contrast between Marcus Luria and his father, the ascetic sage Zalia Ziskind.—
Adam Kirsch,
The New Yorker,
21 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Today, these ants primarily live in undisturbed and temperate eastern North American forests.—
Lauren Thomann,
Better Homes & Gardens,
9 May 2025
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Best Time to Visit Locals know the fall and winter tend to be the best times to visit St. George Island for temperate weather, smaller crowds, and lower humidity.—
Carrie Honaker,
Travel + Leisure,
6 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Abstemious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abstemious. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
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