How to Use abstinence in a Sentence

abstinence

noun
  • The program promoted sexual abstinence for young people.
  • The drug, ibudilast, didn’t help meth users improve abstinence, as compared to a placebo.
    Bradley J. Fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, 30 Mar. 2018
  • Cannon herself grew up in a Catholic family that preached abstinence or bust.
    Eliza Berman, Time, 5 Apr. 2018
  • The good news is that C.H.S. has a pretty simple cure: abstinence.
    Roni Caryn Rabin, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2018
  • Previously, the end point was abstinence: this (new) drug will end addiction.
    Courtney Astolfi, cleveland.com, 28 Mar. 2018
  • One of the main reasons at that time was that his administration was cutting funding to anything that wasn’t an abstinence program.
    Justin Scott Campbell, Longreads, 24 Apr. 2018
  • Bexar also reported the highest rate of neonatal abstinence syndrome, in which babies are exposed to drugs in the womb and born with substance-addiction problems.
    Jasper Scherer, San Antonio Express-News, 25 Apr. 2018
  • The 44-year-old had gained weight since her arrest and forced abstinence from drugs.
    Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2024
  • As a girl, Mack said she was taught to value modesty and even signed an abstinence pledge in the sixth grade.
    NBC News, 18 Nov. 2020
  • So what happens in the body during this month of abstinence?
    Brittany Bowker, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Jan. 2023
  • The author argues in favor of abstinence, which is what is taught by law in Utah schools.
    Courtney Tanner, The Salt Lake Tribune, 2 Aug. 2022
  • In 2015, the FDA dropped the lifetime ban and replaced it with a one-year abstinence requirement.
    CBS News, 27 Jan. 2023
  • This leaves a lot of people behind for whom abstinence just doesn’t work.
    Laura Newberry, Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2023
  • The authors tried to control for factors like age and abstinence time.
    Evan Bush, NBC News, 17 Nov. 2022
  • On Thursday, the FDA shortened the window of abstinence even further, to three months.
    TheWeek, 2 Apr. 2020
  • Even a short period of abstinence can help your brain bounce back.
    Rebecca Joy Stanborough, SELF, 12 Jan. 2022
  • Seizures are by far the most feared side effect of sudden abstinence from benzos.
    Lindsay Beyerstein, The New Republic, 10 Mar. 2020
  • In the Catholic Church, abstinence in this context means abstaining from meat.
    Christine Rousselle, Fox News, 14 Oct. 2023
  • In 1988, the litmus tests included abstinence and prayer in school.
    M.l. Elrick, Detroit Free Press, 24 Apr. 2022
  • To May, abstinence is not the answer to teens’ problems with social media.
    Eli Joseph, Fortune, 4 June 2024
  • And for those trying to use the period of Lenten abstinence to kick an alcohol habit, Ochsner has a program to help.
    NOLA.com, 8 Feb. 2021
  • Other times, it's assumed to be a choice, like abstinence or celibacy.
    Jenna Ryu, USA TODAY, 21 Feb. 2023
  • Through it all — even after her boyfriend moved back to Missouri — Bree maintained her abstinence.
    Dallas News, 3 Feb. 2023
  • The only treatment for this, Berliner told the woman, was abstinence.
    Lisa Sanders, M.d., New York Times, 16 Nov. 2022
  • There is no meat on the altars, because St. Joseph’s Day falls during the Lenten season, a time of abstinence and reflection.
    Ann Maloney, Washington Post, 7 Mar. 2023
  • There are lots of cheerful green emojis on there, but their souls are black: content with living in bleak abstinence.
    Daniel Rodgers, Vogue, 4 Jan. 2024
  • That means that abstinence is taught as the only foolproof way to avoid pregnancy and disease.
    Molly Harbarger, OregonLive.com, 8 June 2018
  • The idea is to embrace users and nudge them toward social functioning, even toward abstinence—but on the client’s time line.
    Sally Satel, WSJ, 21 July 2021
  • Strict abstinence and the avoidance of temptation seem a better bet for both substance abusers and chronic overextenders.
    James F. Jeffrey, Foreign Affairs, 23 June 2021
  • People are meant to use all the fats inside the home in preparation for fasting and abstinence during Lent, which begins the following day on Ash Wednesday, according to Britannica.com.
    Keisha Rowe, The Courier-Journal, 13 Feb. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'abstinence.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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