abstinent
/ˈæb.stɪ.nn̩t/
abstinent adjective: refraining from indulgence, especially from the indulgence of appetite. Also the alternative letter-case form of Abstinent.
Adjective
abstinent (comparative more abstinent, superlative most abstinent)
- Refraining from indulgence, especially from the indulgence of appetite.
- Be abstinent; shew not the corruption of thy generation: he that feeds shall diec. 1612–1615?, John Fletcher, Francis Beaumont, revised by Philip Massinger, “Loves Cure or, The Martial Maid”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey...
- Synonyms:
- abstemious, continent, temperate, abstentious, sober, spareful
Noun (1)
abstinent (plural abstinents)
- One who abstains; a faster.
Noun (2) capitalized: Abstinent
Abstinent (plural Abstinents)
- One of a Christian sect that appeared in France and Spain in the 3rd century, and practised abstinence from meat and sex.
Also used as
abstinent is also the alternative letter-case form of Abstinent.
Synonyms of abstinent
Forms of abstinent
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more abstinent |
| superlative | most abstinent |
| Noun | |
| plural | abstinents |
| plural | Abstinents |
Origin of abstinent
First attested in the late 14th century as Middle English abstinent, abstynent, from Old French abstinent, from Latin abstinēns, present participle of abstineō. See abstain.
From Middle English abstinent (adjective form).
Words formed from abstinent
- abstinently
- nonabstinent
- abstinential
- fapstinent
Questions about abstinent
- What does abstinent mean?
- Abstinent means refraining from indulgence, especially from the indulgence of appetite.
- What part of speech is abstinent?
- Abstinent can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce abstinent?
- Abstinent is pronounced /ˈæb.stɪ.nn̩t/ (US).
Words near abstinent in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: abstinent (page history and authors); Abstinent (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-abstinent.ogg.
Cite this entry: “abstinent.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/abstinent. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.