abstentious

as in ascetic
given to or marked by restraint in the satisfaction of one's appetites abstentious by nature, she eats only to satisfy actual hunger—never just for the sake of eating

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for abstentious
Adjective
  • How can a kindly, God-fearing, and ascetic novice monk compete against that?
    Karl Ove Knausgaard, New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2025
  • In fact, the ascetic value of fasting from meat required that the person otherwise enjoy it.
    Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 4 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Some have evolved exceedingly specific diets—diets that would put even the most abstemious human to shame.
    Scott Travers, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025
  • 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
Adjective
  • The 121st World Series will head back cross-continent for at least a Game 6 at the end of the week in Toronto’s Rogers Centre.
    Jim Alexander, Oc Register, 29 Oct. 2025
  • Schneider reflects on Game 5 ‘what-ifs’ A cross-continent flight and 21 hours later, Schneider stepped in front of reporters.
    Mitch Bannon, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Ivan Neville has been on a few times and always talks being abstinent.
    Shirley Halperin, Rolling Stone, 1 Oct. 2025
  • As a purist, Murray defines sobriety as being completely abstinent from habit-forming substances that could cause dependency, including prescription drugs like Xanax and Suboxone.
    Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 23 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • This simple tank since it can be worn on its own to keep you temperate during toasty flights, and it’s made with the brand’s DreamKnit Fabric that results in an unbelievably soft finish.
    Merrell Readman, Travel + Leisure, 6 Nov. 2025
  • Research, however, has tended to focus on temperate lakesrather than those in the tropics, despite their huge vulnerability to intense warming.
    Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 6 Nov. 2025
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Abstentious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abstentious. Accessed 17 Nov. 2025.

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