as in temperance
voluntary restraint in the satisfaction of one's appetites
even after acquiring great wealth, he continued to practice a kind of puritanical self-abnegation
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Recent Examples of self-abnegation
Her vocation requires the skill of transformation and self-abnegation, as well as a receptiveness to language and emotion not her own.
—
Jordan Kisner, The Atlantic, 4 Apr. 2025
The audience responds gratefully to this level of self-abnegation, and the frankly chilling sounds that come out of her.
—Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2024
Honoré recalls the dirt of a horny adolescent’s lust, the emotional confusion that twists desire for contact and intimacy into degradation, self-abnegation, and the longing for salvation — needs effaced by the title’s unclear American translation.
—Armond White, National Review, 5 May 2023
The tenacious resistance among many Democratic politicians to publicly challenge the court’s misdeeds stands as a spectacular act of self-abnegation.
—Simon Lazarus, The New Republic, 21 Apr. 2023
Jordan Kisner, The Atlantic, 4 Apr. 2025
The audience responds gratefully to this level of self-abnegation, and the frankly chilling sounds that come out of her.
—Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2024
Honoré recalls the dirt of a horny adolescent’s lust, the emotional confusion that twists desire for contact and intimacy into degradation, self-abnegation, and the longing for salvation — needs effaced by the title’s unclear American translation.
—Armond White, National Review, 5 May 2023
The tenacious resistance among many Democratic politicians to publicly challenge the court’s misdeeds stands as a spectacular act of self-abnegation.
—Simon Lazarus, The New Republic, 21 Apr. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-abnegation
temperance
Noun
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Indiana is staunchly conservative, but its Republicans tend to foster a deliberate temperance.—
Isabella Volmert,
Fortune,
26 Oct. 2025
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The temperance movement, which aimed to reduce alcohol use, gained steam in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.—
Maggie Menderski,
Louisville Courier Journal,
16 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Self-abnegation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-abnegation. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
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