abstain
Americanverb (used without object)
verb
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to choose to refrain
he abstained from alcohol
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to refrain from voting, esp in a committee, legislature, etc
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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abstainsimple
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abstainssimple
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have abstainedperfect
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has abstainedperfect
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am abstainingprogressive
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are abstainingprogressive
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is abstainingprogressive
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have been abstainingperfect progressive
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has been abstainingperfect progressive
Past
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abstainedsimple
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had abstainedperfect
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was abstainingprogressive
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were abstainingprogressive
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had been abstainingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of abstain
1350–1400; Middle English abste ( i ) nen < Middle French abstenir ≪ Latin abstinēre, equivalent to abs- abs- + -tinēre, combining form of tenēre to hold, keep
Explanation
If you abstain from something, you restrain yourself from consuming it. People usually abstain from things that are considered vices — like eating French fries every day for lunch. Roots of the word abstain are from the 14th-century French, "to withhold oneself," and the word often refers to people who hold themselves back from indulging in habits that are bad for them, physically or morally. Abstain can also mean to withhold a vote, and sometimes a difficult decision is stalled when government representatives abstain from voting one way or another.
Vocabulary lists containing abstain
100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"
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100 Top "SAT" Words
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Electoral Elocution: The Verbiage of Voting
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It was to protect worshippers that Israel had asked people of all faiths to "temporarily abstain" from worshipping at all the holy sites in Jerusalem's Old City, he added.
From Barron's ● Mar. 29, 2026
The group has historically ruled that members cannot accept blood transfusions, as - according to the groups website - both the Old and New Testaments "command us to abstain from blood".
From BBC ● Mar. 20, 2026
European diplomats said it had been unclear until shortly before the vote whether Washington would again abstain or oppose it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026
“Arbitrators aren’t elected, they’re not required to weigh countywide trade-offs like homeless services, healthcare, capital improvements, all of those things,” said Supervisor Holly Mitchell, the only supervisor to abstain from the vote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2026
But above all else, he should abstain from seizing the property of others; for men forget the death of their father more quickly than the loss of their patrimony.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
Recently persuaded by her teen daughter, Mae, to join social media, Hahn abstains from reading the comments.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 26, 2024
Their motion could be successful if at least one Labour Senedd member either rebels, abstains or does not take part.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2024
“It’s hard. There aren’t enough places,” Archiopoli said, noting that Seattle has a growing segment of population that abstains from alcohol or drugs.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 20, 2023
"But the truth is we know relatively little from this 50%, from this half of the population that abstains from electoral processes."
From Reuters ● Sep. 2, 2022
I don’t know if the hose were clean, but I do notice that everyone on the show abstains from drinking lemonade that day.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
“I abstained because I did not see sufficient evidence to justify extending this emergency ordinance, nor did I see evidence to eliminate it entirely,” Hahn said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026
Nekhaila, who would have been the tiebreaking vote, abstained.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026
While they released the letter spelling out their dissent, the Fed clarified that Bowman had abstained from the vote.
From Barron's ● May 15, 2026
The remaining 27 lawmakers were absent or abstained.
From BBC ● May 12, 2026
She could have made an inquiry or two, as to the expedition and the expense of the Irish mails;—it was at her tongue’s end—but she abstained.
From "Emma" by Jane Austen
In 2020, Milan Township passed an ordinance that would allow the project to go forward, with Heath’s brother, the township supervisor, abstaining.
From Salon ● Apr. 27, 2026
Although she did not agree a deal for the new budget Jane Dodds, the Welsh Liberal Democrat leader and the party's only MS, said she would also be abstaining on the budget.
From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2026
The tally was 29-0 for approval, with Gilbert’s Cavaliers abstaining.
From Barron's ● Jan. 16, 2026
Los Angeles’s city council passed the measure in November by a 12-2 vote, with one member abstaining.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 30, 2025
Even when Ramadan arrived during the season and I had to play volleyball and fence while fasting from sunrise to sunset, abstaining from food and water, I still didn’t want to quit.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
