self-denial
Americannoun
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the sacrifice of one's own desires; unselfishness.
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an act or instance of restraining or curbing one's desires.
To reduce, one has to practice self-denial at the dinner table.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of self-denial
First recorded in 1635–45
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.
Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism all attach moral significance to voluntary self-denial.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
But I didn’t want to “surrender” to anything, nor to spend my whole life making amends and walking a path of eternal deprivation and self-denial like I saw in popular recovery communities.
From Slate ● Feb. 15, 2026
So the question facing him was whether another four-year cycle of discipline and self-denial was worth it for the chance to bridge that blink of an eye.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2025
Or they might miss out on joyous experiences by living in constant self-denial.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 24, 2025
He travelled along the path of self-denial through pain, through voluntary suffering and conquering of pain, through hunger, thirst and fatigue.
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.
