| Library / English Dictionary |
SELF-DENIAL
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Renunciation of your own interests in favor of the interests of others
Synonyms:
abnegation; denial; self-abnegation; self-denial; self-renunciation
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("self-denial" is a kind of...):
forgoing; forswearing; renunciation (the act of renouncing; sacrificing or giving up or surrendering (a possession or right or title or privilege etc.))
self-sacrifice; selflessness (acting with less concern for yourself than for the success of the joint activity)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The act of denying yourself; controlling your impulses
Synonyms:
self-control; self-denial; self-discipline
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("self-denial" is a kind of...):
control (the activity of managing or exerting control over something)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "self-denial"):
abstinence (act or practice of refraining from indulging an appetite)
ascesis; asceticism (rigorous self-denial and active self-restraint)
mortification ((Christianity) the act of mortifying the lusts of the flesh by self-denial and privation (especially by bodily pain or discomfort inflicted on yourself))
Sense 3
Meaning:
The trait of practicing self discipline
Synonyms:
self-denial; self-discipline
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("self-denial" is a kind of...):
discipline (the trait of being well behaved)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "self-denial"):
asceticism; austerity; nonindulgence (the trait of great self-denial (especially refraining from worldly pleasures))
abstention; abstinence (the trait of abstaining (especially from alcohol))
continence; continency (the exercise of self constraint in sexual matters)
Context examples:
A younger son, you know, must be inured to self-denial and dependence.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
He had meant them to be good, but his cares had been directed to the understanding and manners, not the disposition; and of the necessity of self-denial and humility, he feared they had never heard from any lips that could profit them.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
I had no consolation in seeing how different she was from this detestable Rufus with the mulberry-coloured great-coat, for I felt that in the very difference between them, in the self-denial of her pure soul and the sordid baseness of his, the greatest danger lay.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
For in that sad yet happy hour, she had learned not only the bitterness of remorse and despair, but the sweetness of self-denial and self-control, and led by her mother's hand, she had drawn nearer to the Friend who always welcomes every child with a love stronger than that of any father, tenderer than that of any mother.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
A promise of secrecy was of course very dutifully given, but it could not be kept without difficulty; for the curiosity excited by his long absence burst forth in such very direct questions on his return as required some ingenuity to evade, and he was at the same time exercising great self-denial, for he was longing to publish his prosperous love.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
