self-abnegation
self-abnegation noun: the denial or invalidation of one's own needs, interests, etc. for the sake of another's; the setting aside of self-interest.
Noun
self-abnegation (countable and uncountable, plural self-abnegations)
- The denial or invalidation of one's own needs, interests, etc. for the sake of another's; the setting aside of self-interest.
- [Self commendation] should bee accompanied with Self-abnegation, or a renouncing of all Self-conceit, Self-sufficiency, Self seeking, or Self worthiness; to prick the bladder of pride in us.1656, Edward Reyner, Rules for the Government of the Tongue, London: Thomas Newberry, page 324
- You understand, of course, that it is only by serving and self-abnegation that we advance in the higher world."1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “In which Challenger Meets a Strange Colleague”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019
- Synonyms:
- self-denial, self-sacrifice
- An act of self-denial.
- […] self-abnegations often repeated imply on the part of the actor a tacit ascription of relative selfishness to others who profit by the self-abnegations.1879, Herbert Spencer, chapter 14, in The Data of Ethics, New York: Hurst, page 292
- There was something monstrous about his self-abnegations. Perhaps he denied himself the things for which he did not care. He wanted to seem nobler than any one else.1922, Coningsby Dawson, chapter 4, in The Vanishing Point, New York: Cosmopolitan Book Corporation, page 149
self-abnegation meaning in Tamil
self-abnegation in Tamil
- தன்னல மறுப்பு, தியாகம்
Examples of self-abnegation in a sentence
- The rest of her life must be spent in self-abnegation: she must seek for no sympathy, must ask for no grace in love, no grace and harmony in living.1934, D. H. Lawrence, “The Old Adam”, in Keith Sagar, editor, The Mortal Coil and Other Stories, Penguin, published 1971, pages 84–85:
- Even humility and self-abnegation, however abject, were not enough to prevent one’s downfall.2006, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, chapter 8, in Wizard of the Crow, New York: Pantheon, page 231:
- [King Charles] lacks, too, that aura of self-abnegation, of having surrendered himself to duty.2023 September 18, Zoe Williams, “The booing of the national anthem shows the vulnerability of King Charles’s reign”, in The Guardian...
- Certain business titans have made Mar-A-Lago a scene of such flagrant self-abnegation, ring-kissing, and genuflection that it would embarrass a medieval Pope.2025 January 12, David Remnick, “The Inauguration of Trump's Oligarchy”, in The New Yorker:
Synonyms of self-abnegation
Antonyms
Forms of self-abnegation
| plural | self-abnegations |
|---|
Origin of self-abnegation
From self- + abnegation.
Questions about self-abnegation
- What does self-abnegation mean?
- Self-abnegation means the denial or invalidation of one's own needs, interests, etc. for the sake of another's; the setting aside of self-interest.
- What is self-abnegation in Tamil?
- Self-abnegation in Tamil is தன்னல மறுப்பு, தியாகம். See Self-abnegation meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use self-abnegation in a sentence?
- The rest of her life must be spent in self-abnegation: she must seek for no sympathy, must ask for no grace in love, no grace and harmony in living.
- What part of speech is self-abnegation?
- Self-abnegation is a noun.
- What is the plural of self-abnegation?
- The plural of self-abnegation is self-abnegations.
Words near self-abnegation in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: self-abnegation (page history and authors); self-abnegation (Tamil Wiktionary) (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.
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Cite this entry: “self-abnegation.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/self-abnegation. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.