ascetic
Americannoun
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a person who dedicates their life to a pursuit of contemplative ideals and practices extreme self-denial or self-mortification for religious reasons.
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a person who leads an austerely simple life, especially one who abstains from the normal pleasures of life or shuns material satisfaction.
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(in the early Christian church) a monk; hermit.
adjective
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relating to asceticism, the doctrine that one can reach a high spiritual state through the practice of extreme self-denial or self-mortification.
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rigorously abstinent; austere.
an ascetic existence.
- Antonyms:
- self-indulgent
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exceedingly strict or severe in religious exercises or self-mortification.
- Synonyms:
- fanatic
noun
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a person who practises great self-denial and austerities and abstains from worldly comforts and pleasures, esp for religious reasons
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(in the early Christian Church) a monk
adjective
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rigidly abstinent or abstemious; austere
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of or relating to ascetics or asceticism
-
intensely rigorous in religious austerities
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ascetic
First recorded in 1640–50; from Greek askētikós “subject to rigorous exercise, hardworking,” equivalent to askē- ( see ascesis) + -tikos adjective suffix; see -tic
Explanation
Want to live an ascetic lifestyle? Then you better ditch the flat panel TV and fuzzy slippers. To be ascetic, you learn to live without; it's all about self-denial. Ascetic is derived from the Greek asketes, meaning “monk,” or “hermit.” Later that became asketikos, meaning “rigorously self-disciplined,” which gives us the Modern English ascetic. Ascetic can be a noun: a person with incredible self-discipline and the ability to deprive herself, or an adjective that describes such a people or their lifestyle.
Vocabulary lists containing ascetic
100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"
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300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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The Scarlet Letter
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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.
Churchill was a short, stout, luxury-loving aristocrat, while de Gaulle was a tall, angular ascetic.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026
And at this precise moment, amid a coalition burned out on self-flagellation and ascetic living, a Totenkopf has been deemed forgivable.
From Slate • Apr. 13, 2026
A jar of homemade pumpkin butter, if you’re feeling ambitious, turns even the most ascetic bowl into a minor celebration.
From Salon • Nov. 13, 2025
A hardline ascetic, Valentin won’t even alert the medics when he’s sick, in case they give him morphine.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 9, 2025
I am still a Samana, he thought, still an ascetic and a beggar.
From "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse
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.
