abstinence
noun
Simple meaning
Act or practice of refraining from indulging an appetite.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
abstuhnuhnsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈæbstənəns
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Act or practice of refraining from indulging an appetite
The trait of abstaining (especially from alcohol)
The practice of self-denial; self-restraint; forebearance from anything.
Specifically, the practice of abstaining from intoxicating/alcoholic beverages; total abstinence; teetotalism).
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Act or practice of refraining from indulging an appetite
'Abstinence' is the practice of refraining from something, often for moral, health, or religious reasons. It's more about a lifestyle or ongoing commitment than a single act. Often paired with 'sexual' or 'alcohol.'
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where you'll really hear it
Public Health Campaign
“Promoting abstinence is one strategy to prevent certain health issues.”
Religious Teaching
“Many faiths encourage abstinence from specific foods during holidays.”
Support Group Meeting
“Maintaining abstinence can be challenging but rewarding for many.”
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.