self-denying

adjective

Without concern for one's own advantage; selfless or self-sacrificing.

Similar
self-sacrificingabstemiousotherishselflessself-abnegatoryself-flagellatoryunselfishself-giving
OriginEnglish denying ← Middle English self- ← Old English self- →
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

adjectiveself-denying (comparative more self-denying, superlative most self-denying)

comparative more self-denying · superlative most self-denying

  1. Without concern for one's own advantage; selfless or self-sacrificing.

    Synonyms: self-sacrificing, abstemious, otherish, selfless, self-abnegatory, self-flagellatory, self-sacrificing, unselfish

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveWithout concern for one's own advantage; selfless or self-sacrificing.

Similar
self-sacrificingabstemiousotherishselflessself-abnegatoryself-flagellatoryself-sacrificingunselfish

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivewilling to deprive yourself

Similar
self-givingself-sacrificingunselfish

adjectiveused especially of behavior

Similar
renunciantrenunciativeself-abnegatingnonindulgentstrict
Also see
abstemiousrenunciantrenunciativeself-abnegatoryself-flagellatoryself-givingself-sacrificingunselfish

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*swé?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*selbʰ-
  3. Proto-Germanic*selbaz
  4. Old Englishself
  5. Old Englishself-
  6. Middle Englishself-
  7. Englishself-
  8. Englishdenying
  9. Englishself-denying

From self- + denying.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

self-denying. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-denying

MLA

“self-denying.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-denying. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “self-denying,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-denying.

Source: self-denying on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.