as in refusal
the act or practice of giving up or rejecting something once enjoyed or desired
the couple's sudden abnegation of life in the fast lane for work as missionaries stunned everyone
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Recent Examples of abnegation
Is that an abnegation of interviewer responsibility?
—
David Marchese David Marchese Photograph By Mamadi Doumbouya, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2023
The life that Alharthi describes is one of almost saintly self-abnegation.
—Ron Charles, Washington Post, 24 May 2022
His naïve insolence punctures the vanities of other filmmakers while offering no alternative, and the movie that results is a joyless, confused self-abnegation.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2022
The explicit and quasi-religious abnegation of the right to violent self-defense put the national committee at odds with one of its key allies during the Saturday march: Black Lives Matter.
—Samantha Eyler, Foreign Affairs, 31 Jan. 2017
See All Example Sentences for abnegation
David Marchese David Marchese Photograph By Mamadi Doumbouya, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2023
The life that Alharthi describes is one of almost saintly self-abnegation.
—Ron Charles, Washington Post, 24 May 2022
His naïve insolence punctures the vanities of other filmmakers while offering no alternative, and the movie that results is a joyless, confused self-abnegation.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2022
The explicit and quasi-religious abnegation of the right to violent self-defense put the national committee at odds with one of its key allies during the Saturday march: Black Lives Matter.
—Samantha Eyler, Foreign Affairs, 31 Jan. 2017
See All Example Sentences for abnegation
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abnegation
Noun
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The golf pro was arrested and charged with a DUI, property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test by the local sheriff's department.—
Anna Kaufman,
USA Today,
3 Apr. 2026
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The 82-time PGA Tour winner is charged with driving under the influence with property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test — both misdemeanors.—
Alaa Elassar,
CNN Money,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The department said the new $450 fee remains well below the government’s actual cost of processing renunciation requests.—
Michael Dorgan,
FOXNews.com,
14 Mar. 2026
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British psychiatrist Humphry Osmond, who took part in a peyote ceremony with a First Nations group the Red Pheasant Band in Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1956, intuited the necessity of community, empathy, and ego renunciation during the psychedelic process.—
Erica Rex,
STAT,
19 Feb. 2026
Noun
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One of his most popular early clips featured a Holocaust-denial riff about how many cookies could fit in an oven.—
Antonia Hitchens,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2026
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Recently, despite their consistent and ridiculous denials, it was found that Iran had built numerous missiles capable of reaching all over Europe.—
Bobby Zirkin,
Baltimore Sun,
5 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Abnegation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abnegation. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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