self-abnegation
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
- self-abnegating adjective
Etymology
Origin of self-abnegation
First recorded in 1650–60
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.
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
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
Reckless, ruthless and unrestrained, the Cohens and Scaramuccis of the world are accustomed to social opprobrium and live their lives unfettered by ordinary social norms of appropriateness and self-abnegation.
From Washington Post • Nov. 1, 2019
She stood erect, as if surrounded by a halo of self-abnegation, when R�schen suddenly begged permission to enter.
From A Twofold Life by Hillern, Wilhelmine von
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.
