Abstainer

//æbˈsteɪ.nɚ// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    One who abstains; especially, one who abstains from something, such as the use of alcohol or drugs, or one who abstains for religious reasons; one who practices self-denial.

    "To one of my very nervous patients, who was an abstainer, whose fancy was fixed on his mother, and who repeatedly dreamed of climbing stairs accompanied by his mother, I once remarked that moderate masturbation would be less harmful to him than enforced abstinence."

  2. 2
    a person who refrains from drinking intoxicating beverages wordnet
  3. 3
    someone who practices self denial as a spiritual discipline wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
teetotalerabstinentabstinentalbigensiananchoriteapostolici

Example

More examples

"To one of my very nervous patients, who was an abstainer, whose fancy was fixed on his mother, and who repeatedly dreamed of climbing stairs accompanied by his mother, I once remarked that moderate masturbation would be less harmful to him than enforced abstinence."

Etymology

From Middle English absteyner, equivalent to abstain + -er.

Related phrases

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