as in ascetic
given to or marked by restraint in the satisfaction of one's appetites
found the self-denying life of the monks at the monastery unexpectedly appealing
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Recent Examples of self-denying
The thriving wineries of modern-day Australia would no doubt astonish those Lutheran pioneers, not to mention the self-denying John Muir — although they surely would be fascinated by how botany has been modernized and commercialized.
—
Tony Perrottet, Travel + Leisure, 25 June 2024
Tony Perrottet, Travel + Leisure, 25 June 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-denying
Adjective
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But Pascal, for all the twinkle in his eye, often plays relatively sexless characters — from the fatherly energy of The Last of Us to the ascetic qualities of The Mandalorian.—
Maureen Lee Lenker,
EW.com,
9 June 2025
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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
Adjective
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Some have evolved exceedingly specific diets—diets that would put even the most abstemious human to shame.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes,
12 Mar. 2025
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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
Cite this Entry
“Self-denying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-denying. Accessed 30 Jun. 2025.
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