abnegate

[ ab-ni-geyt ]
See synonyms for abnegate on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object),ab·ne·gat·ed, ab·ne·gat·ing.
  1. to refuse or deny oneself (some rights, conveniences, etc.); reject; renounce.

  2. to relinquish; give up.

Origin of abnegate

1
1650–60; <Latin abnegātus denied (past participle of abnegāre). See ab-, negate

Other words from abnegate

  • ab·ne·ga·tion, noun
  • ab·ne·ga·tor, noun
  • un·ab·ne·gat·ed, adjective
  • un·ab·ne·gat·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use abnegate in a sentence

  • At first blush, it seems like a rare self-abnegating and idealistic move by a corporate giant.

  • Need he, an artist, be more chivalrous—he put it baldly—more conventional and self-abnegating than other men?

    Love's Usuries | Louis Creswicke
  • On such occasions, his bow of conscious merit abnegating praise was, I am told, wonderful to see.

    Guy Livingstone; | George A. Lawrence
  • The father's ideality was in her a tender religious feeling; the mother's passionate impulse, a self-abnegating affection.

    Louisa May Alcott | Louisa May Alcott
  • The fascination of her self-abnegating thought held her, and she drifted on to more personal details.

    The One-Way Trail | Ridgwell Cullum
  • It also implies that she is essentially impure, and that she can only please God by abnegating her sex.

    Flowers of Freethought | George W. Foote

British Dictionary definitions for abnegate

abnegate

/ (ˈæbnɪˌɡeɪt) /


verb
  1. (tr) to deny to oneself; renounce (privileges, pleasure, etc)

Origin of abnegate

1
C17: from Latin abnegāre to deny

Derived forms of abnegate

  • abnegation, noun
  • abnegator, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012