self-renunciation
Forsaking personal desires
Self-renunciation is the voluntary giving up of one's own interests, desires, or will—typically for a higher purpose or another's benefit.
The term carries religious and philosophical weight, suggesting not mere sacrifice but a deliberate setting aside of the self: Her life of self-renunciation devoted to the poor.
It implies ongoing discipline rather than a single act.
Cloistered religious living
- austerityEnforced economic stringency
- fastingDeliberate food avoidance
- celibacyAbstaining from intimate relations
- abstinenceVoluntary forgoing of indulgences
hermit · anchorite · monk · nun · recluse · mendicant · vow · mortification
Mental strength resisting impulse
- restraintControl over impulses
- temperanceHabitual moderation in behavior
- forbearancePatient self-control, delayed enforcement
- abstentionFormal refusal to vote
moderation · relinquishment · forgoing · continence · sobriety
Suffering for conviction
- abnegationRejection of oneself
- surrenderCease resistance, yield
- offeringSomething presented or given
- devotionDeep, loyal commitment
immolation · oblation · giving up · letting go · forfeit · relinquishing · abandonment · yielding
Absence of vanity
- meeknessGentle, unassertive disposition
- unpretentiousnessAbsence of showiness
- lowlinessState of modest rank
- humblenessState of being unpretentious
monasticism
Cloistered religious living
- austerityEnforced economic stringency
- fastingDeliberate food avoidance
- celibacyAbstaining from intimate relations
abstinence · hermit · anchorite · monk · nun · recluse · mendicant · vow · mortification · penance
willpower
Mental strength resisting impulse
- restraintControl over impulses
- temperanceHabitual moderation in behavior
- forbearancePatient self-control, delayed enforcement
abstention · moderation · relinquishment · forgoing · continence · sobriety
martyrdom
Suffering for conviction
- abnegationRejection of oneself
- surrenderCease resistance, yield
- offeringSomething presented or given
devotion · immolation · oblation · giving up · letting go · forfeit · relinquishing · abandonment · yielding · resignation
modesty
Absence of vanity
- meeknessGentle, unassertive disposition
- unpretentiousnessAbsence of showiness
- lowlinessState of modest rank
humbleness · egolessness · unassuming · simplicity · deference
self-renunciationself-indulgence
Excessive yielding to desires
self-gratification · indulgence · self-satisfaction · self-pleasing · pleasure-seeking
self-renunciationselfishness
Excessive concern for oneself
self-centeredness · egoism · self-interest · egotism · self-aggrandizement
self-renunciationhedonism
Pursuit of gratification
sybaritism · epicureanism · sensualism · voluptuousness · decadence
self, renunciation, selves, selfish, selfless, selfhood, selfishness, selflessness, renounce