Meaning & use
ascetics
Last updated
People who practice strict self-discipline and abstain from worldly pleasures, often for religious or spiritual reasons.
See it in a sentence
The ascetics lived alone in the desert, eating only bread and water.
Many early Christian ascetics withdrew from society to pursue lives of prayer.
A note on using this word
Can also function as an adjective, as in "an ascetic lifestyle."
Words with a similar meaning
hermits
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
hedonists
Another way to use it
2. adjective
Practicing severe self-discipline and abstinence
He adopted an ascetic diet, giving up sugar and meat entirely.
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