How to Use abstinence in a Sentence

abstinence

noun
  • The program promoted sexual abstinence for young people.
  • In one study, even a short abstinence had an impact.
    — Angela Ryan Lee, Verywell Health, 15 Jan. 2026
  • Even a short period of abstinence can help your brain bounce back.
    — Rebecca Joy Stanborough, SELF, 12 Jan. 2022
  • This leaves a lot of people behind for whom abstinence just doesn’t work.
    — Laura Newberry, Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2023
  • Once in the system, cannabis abstinence is enforced through urine tests.
    — Chris Goldstein, Philly.com, 16 Feb. 2018
  • But the answer doesn’t seem to be total abstinence.
    — Aj Willingham, AJC.com, 20 Mar. 2026
  • The periods of abstinence last about as long as his benders last.
    — Diana Spechler, Longreads, 28 Oct. 2017
  • The authors tried to control for factors like age and abstinence time.
    — Evan Bush, NBC News, 17 Nov. 2022
  • These new sodas are a way to balance decadence with abstinence.
    — Tariro Mzezewa, New York Times, 26 Mar. 2025
  • Other times, it's assumed to be a choice, like abstinence or celibacy.
    — Jenna Ryu, USA TODAY, 21 Feb. 2023
  • As a girl, Mack said she was taught to value modesty and even signed an abstinence pledge in the sixth grade.
    — NBC News, 18 Nov. 2020
  • The author argues in favor of abstinence, which is what is taught by law in Utah schools.
    — Courtney Tanner, The Salt Lake Tribune, 2 Aug. 2022
  • The next day marked the beginning of abstinence from those items or the Lenten season.
    — Saleen Martin, USA TODAY, 3 Mar. 2025
  • These bouts of abstinence and punishment would work for a while but, like garden weeds, the pounds would always come back.
    — Matt Slater, New York Times, 9 May 2026
  • The drug, ibudilast, didn’t help meth users improve abstinence, as compared to a placebo.
    — Bradley J. Fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, 30 Mar. 2018
  • That means that abstinence is taught as the only foolproof way to avoid pregnancy and disease.
    — Molly Harbarger, OregonLive.com, 8 June 2018
  • For this reason, many families opt for fish or seafood dishes during the days of abstinence.
    — Nadia Cantú, AZCentral.com, 18 Feb. 2026
  • Soon, a unit with eight private rooms for babies with neonatal abstinence syndrome and their mothers will open.
    — Catherine Saint Louis, Alaska Dispatch News, 14 July 2017
  • Muslims fast from dusk til dawn, including abstinence from water.
    — Isa Almeida, Oklahoman, 17 Feb. 2026
  • To May, abstinence is not the answer to teens’ problems with social media.
    — Eli Joseph, Fortune, 4 June 2024
  • But equally isolating is the message that total abstinence is the only way to heal.
    — Kate Browne, SELF, 23 Nov. 2021
  • Through it all — even after her boyfriend moved back to Missouri — Bree maintained her abstinence.
    — Dallas News, 3 Feb. 2023
  • In the Catholic Church, abstinence in this context means abstaining from meat.
    — Christine Rousselle, Fox News, 14 Oct. 2023
  • During this time, fish fry dinners are very popular, as fish are excluded from the abstinence of meat.
    — Jelissa Burns, Freep.com, 6 Jan. 2026
  • But the first few months of unintentional abstinence forced me to get honest with myself.
    — Essence, 3 Dec. 2025
  • Parents wanted something with more of an abstinence focus.
    — Literary Hub, 13 Aug. 2025
  • The time to reoccurrence was longer in the coffee consumption group than in the abstinence group.
    — Sheah Rarback, Miami Herald, 31 Dec. 2025
  • The idea is to embrace users and nudge them toward social functioning, even toward abstinence—but on the client’s time line.
    — Sally Satel, WSJ, 21 July 2021
  • The only treatment for this, Berliner told the woman, was abstinence.
    — Lisa Sanders, M.d., New York Times, 16 Nov. 2022
  • The grants are used to teach adolescents about abstinence and contraception.
    — Geoff Mulvihill, Fortune, 29 Aug. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'abstinence.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: