Antonyms for abstain
| Grammar : Verb |
| Spell : ab-steyn |
| Phonetic Transcription : æbˈsteɪn |
Definition of abstain
Origin :- late 14c., "to withhold oneself," from Old French abstenir (14c.), earlier astenir (13c.) "hold (oneself) back, refrain, abstain (from), practice abstinence," from Latin abstinere "withhold, keep back, keep off," from ab(s)- "from, away from" (see ab-) + tenere "to hold" (see tenet). Specifically of liquor, attested from late 14c. Of voting, 1796. Related: Abstained; abstaining.
- verb hold back from doing
- Merely to abstain from definition was like a load taken off my mind.
- Extract from : « The Conquest of Fear » by Basil King
- I told him that he might abstain in future from such a mockery of love.
- Extract from : « A Comedy of Marriage and Other Tales » by Guy De Maupassant
- Then we must abstain from spoiling the dead or hindering their burial?
- Extract from : « The Republic » by Plato
- I do not include Socrates, who is able either to drink or to abstain, and will not mind, whichever we do.
- Extract from : « Symposium » by Plato
- Or would you abstain from using the potion altogether, although you have no reason for abstaining?'
- Extract from : « Laws » by Plato
- And do you not regard it as right and just to abstain from wrong?
- Extract from : « The Memorabilia » by Xenophon
- The Newry folks, and all of their breed, abstain from whining and cadging.
- Extract from : « Ireland as It Is » by Robert John Buckley (AKA R.J.B.)
- If both are open to suspicion,199 we abstain from drawing any conclusion.
- Extract from : « Introduction to the Study of History » by Charles V. Langlois
- Is it not his guide at table-d'hte, teaching him, when to eat, and where to abstain?
- Extract from : « Arthur O'Leary » by Charles James Lever
- Seeing that she had been so treated had she not been wrong to abstain from the word?
- Extract from : « Kept in the Dark » by Anthony Trollope
Synonyms for abstain
- abjure
- abnegate
- avoid
- cease
- constrain
- curb
- decline
- deny oneself
- do without
- eschew
- evade
- fast
- fence-sit
- forbear
- forgo
- give the go by
- give up
- go on the wagon
- keep from
- pass
- pass up
- quit
- refrain
- refuse
- renounce
- shun
- sit on one's hands
- sit on the fence
- sit out
- spurn
- starve
- stop
- take the cure
- take the pledge
- withhold
Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019