1
as in refusal
the act or practice of giving up or rejecting something once enjoyed or desired
dieting is an endless exercise in self-denial
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in temperance
voluntary restraint in the satisfaction of one's appetites
self-indulgent even when she was poor, she wasn't about to practice self-denial after getting rich
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of self-denial
Crace transports readers two thousand years into the past to a stark Biblical landscape full of visceral encounters, violence, self-denial, and possible miracles.
—
Mia Barzilay Freund, Vogue, 7 July 2025
But the biblical term for self-denial – inui – has another meaning.
—Rabbi Avi Weiss, Sun Sentinel, 7 Oct. 2024
The Ford Focus Electric, with its appealing, Euro-hatchback lines, lacks the frumpy feel of self-denial often associated with electric cars.
—IEEE Spectrum, 28 Mar. 2012
Loneliness gets to the heart of the spiritual dissatisfaction and self-denial seen post-Covid and in both the pro-Hamas and pro–George Floyd rioting.
—Armond White, National Review, 10 May 2024
Crace transports readers 2,000 years into the past to a stark Biblical landscape full of visceral encounters, violence, self-denial, and possible miracles.
—Mia Barzilay Freund, Vogue, 29 Mar. 2024
The last week of January in particular would be an excellent time to decamp somewhere pretty, travel for pleasure, or do some spiritual seeking (but maybe the kind that comes with laughter and good food, and not strict rules and self-denial).
—Steph Koyfman, Condé Nast Traveler, 27 Dec. 2023
Shocking self-indulgence sits cheek by jowl with self-denial.
—Tobi Haslett, Harper's Magazine, 18 Sep. 2023
That an ancient philosophy based on self-denial could find an audience among TikTokers, subredditors, and gladiatorial millionaires suggested two possibilities: Stoicism either had quite a lot going for it, or nothing at all.
—Tom Bissell, Harper’s Magazine , 10 Apr. 2023
Mia Barzilay Freund, Vogue, 7 July 2025
But the biblical term for self-denial – inui – has another meaning.
—Rabbi Avi Weiss, Sun Sentinel, 7 Oct. 2024
The Ford Focus Electric, with its appealing, Euro-hatchback lines, lacks the frumpy feel of self-denial often associated with electric cars.
—IEEE Spectrum, 28 Mar. 2012
Loneliness gets to the heart of the spiritual dissatisfaction and self-denial seen post-Covid and in both the pro-Hamas and pro–George Floyd rioting.
—Armond White, National Review, 10 May 2024
Crace transports readers 2,000 years into the past to a stark Biblical landscape full of visceral encounters, violence, self-denial, and possible miracles.
—Mia Barzilay Freund, Vogue, 29 Mar. 2024
The last week of January in particular would be an excellent time to decamp somewhere pretty, travel for pleasure, or do some spiritual seeking (but maybe the kind that comes with laughter and good food, and not strict rules and self-denial).
—Steph Koyfman, Condé Nast Traveler, 27 Dec. 2023
Shocking self-indulgence sits cheek by jowl with self-denial.
—Tobi Haslett, Harper's Magazine, 18 Sep. 2023
That an ancient philosophy based on self-denial could find an audience among TikTokers, subredditors, and gladiatorial millionaires suggested two possibilities: Stoicism either had quite a lot going for it, or nothing at all.
—Tom Bissell, Harper’s Magazine , 10 Apr. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-denial
Noun
-
The problem with this type of refusal is that a cat-and-mouse gambit is likely to ensue.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
30 July 2025
-
Since they are restricted free agents, their 2024-25 teams have right of first refusal, meaning if Grimes, for example, signed an offer sheet with another franchise, the Sixers could match it to bring him back for the same price.—
Fred Katz,
New York Times,
29 July 2025
Noun
-
For example, my passionate behavior (transcendence) and decisiveness (judgment), when not supported by strong temperance, can silence others.—
Mary Crossan,
Forbes.com,
23 July 2025
-
The temperance drive didn’t work so well, but the caffeine fixation stuck.—
Nina Caplan,
Travel + Leisure,
14 July 2025
Noun
-
The denial cited documentation that the nickname was used to refer to New York decades before Batman was created.—
Scott Soshnick,
Sportico.com,
24 July 2025
-
Judge Robin Rosenberg, in her denial of that petition, said that an unrelated ruling in 2020 by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that a district court does not have the power to unseal grand jury records in instances not covered by the criminal procedure rule.—
Dan Mangan,
CNBC,
23 July 2025
Noun
-
This is largely due to the renunciation of complete sovereignty and the sharing of resources that the EU has encouraged for almost 60 years now.—
Frank-Walter Steinmeier,
Foreign Affairs,
13 June 2016
-
Dual citizenship policies vary among countries, with some countries mandating renunciation of existing citizenship.—
Jean Francois Harvey,
Forbes,
20 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
The feats, the ecstasies, the prostrations and abnegations.—
James Parker,
The Atlantic,
10 Jan. 2025
-
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
Cite this Entry
“Self-denial.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-denial. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.
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