abstain
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Followers will still feel, as a matter of conscience, that they still need to abstain because of the pressure to go above and beyond in showing their loyalty to the organisation," he said.
From BBC • Apr. 12, 2026
“Arbitrators aren’t elected, they’re not required to weigh countywide trade-offs like homeless services, healthcare, capital improvements, all of those things,” said Supervisor Holly Mitchell, the only supervisor to abstain from the vote.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 11, 2026
Coffee wasn’t a choice: Tanner is Mormon, and adherents traditionally abstain.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 5, 2026
The basics of a no-spend—or low-spend, depending on your personal definition—challenge are just that: for a predetermined period of time, you abstain from nonessential purchases.
From Salon • Jan. 11, 2026
Better to abstain from the gardens of delectable delights than to be stuck planting them, dawn to dusk.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
Vocabulary lists containing abstain
100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"
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100 Top "SAT" Words
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Electoral Elocution: The Verbiage of Voting
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