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Definition of "self-denial" [self•-de•ni•al]

  • Sacrifice of one's own desires or interests. See Synonyms at abstinence. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "self-denial" in a sentence
  • "The beautiful irony of slavery was that it guaranteed food, shelter, clothing, health care, and child care for the enslaved—and even allowed for the acquisition of luxuries and money—without requiring the self-denial of “free” labor."
  • "That year, a letter to the Newport Mercury, authored by “Frugality,” continued the redefinition of American freedom as self-denial: “We may talk and boast of liberty; but after all, the industrious and frugal only will be free.”"
  • "American schools in the early nineteenth century taught children to avoid the “frivolities” of play and to make themselves “useful” through the exercise of self-denial."