self-abnegation

American  

[self-ab-ni-gey-shuhn] / ˈsɛlfˌæb nɪˈgeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. self-denial or self-sacrifice.

---

self-abnegation British  

noun

1. the denial of one's own interests in favour of the interests of others

---

Other Word Forms

• self-abnegating adjective

Etymology

Origin of self-abnegation

First recorded in 1650–60

Example Sentences

On the contrary, sometimes it unfolds out of the public eye; self-abnegation can be a reliable marker of character.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 19, 2026

Here, Dominik thoroughly undoes that project in a film that not only re-objectifies Monroe but revels in her victimization and self-abnegation.

From Washington Post • Sep. 28, 2022

The close third-person narration of the novel gives readers intimate access to Marianne’s pain and self-abnegation, but some of this gets lost in adaptation.

From Slate • Apr. 24, 2020

But her self-abnegation, far from enabling her work, frustrates the fulfillment of her artistic potential, turning her books into lifeless “intellectual exercises.”

From The New Yorker • Nov. 13, 2019

“Truth is stranger than fiction,” and it follows, therefore, that such instances of self-abnegation induced by impecuniosity have been and will be found.

From Curiosities of Impecuniosity by Somerville, H. G.

Related Words

• disavowal
• repudiation