Abnegation

//ˌæbnɪˈɡeɪʃən// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A denial; a renunciation; denial of desire or self-interest. countable, uncountable

    "With abnegation of God, of his honor, and of religion, they may retain the friendship of the court."

  2. 2
    renunciation of your own interests in favor of the interests of others wordnet
  3. 3
    the denial and rejection of a doctrine or belief wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
denialrenunciationrepudiationself-denialabandonmentabjuration

Example

More examples

"With abnegation of God, of his honor, and of religion, they may retain the friendship of the court."

Etymology

First attested before 1398. From Middle English abnegacioun, borrowed from Late Latin abnegātiō, from abnegō (“refuse, deny”), from ab (“off”) + negō (“deny; refuse, say no”). Compare French abnégation.

Related phrases

self-abnegation

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.