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
His self-abnegation proved successful: Trump endorsed him, and Vance won the primary and then the general election.
—Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, 15 July 2024
The dynamics grew softer as the piece went along, expressing self-abnegation in the face of failure.
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 24 June 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
His self-abnegation proved successful: Trump endorsed him, and Vance won the primary and then the general election.
—Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, 15 July 2024
The dynamics grew softer as the piece went along, expressing self-abnegation in the face of failure.
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 24 June 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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By the 1820s and 1830s, temperance groups sprang up all across Arkansas and the General Assembly passed several laws and regulations to curb its sale.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
10 May 2025
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This memoir is a record of a life spent prioritizing adventure over prudence, indulgence over temperance.—
The Atlantic,
The Atlantic,
15 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Self-abnegation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-abnegation. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.
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