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
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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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Examples of self-denial in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
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
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
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'self-denial.' 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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Cite this Entry
“Self-denial.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-denial. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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