Make Your Point > Archived Issues > ABNEGATION

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connect today's word to others: Our word abnegation looks like negate, negative, negation, renegade, and r_neg_ (meaning, to fail to keep a promise or commitment) because they all came from the Latin negare, meaning "to deny" or "to say no." (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "ABNEGATION" To abnegate something is to formally give it up or reject it. In other words, abnegating things means to deny them officially, or to deny yourself of them. (The "ab" in "abnegate" means "off or away from," and the "neg" means "to deny or to say no." Imagine a self-indulgent habit you love that you're going to abnegate, or give up: it's as if you're saying "no" to it as you hold it away from you.) So, an abnegation is a formal denial or rejection of something. Pronunciation: AB nuh GAY shun Part of speech: Noun. Often it's the countable kind: "an abnegation," "this abnegation." It can also be the uncountable kind: "such abnegation." Other forms: abnegate, abnegated, abnegating; abnegative ("AB nuh gay div"); abnegator(s); self-abnegation, self-abnegator(s), self-abnegating/self-abnegatory How to use it: This word is very formal. Talk about people abnegating their duties and responsibilities, abnegating their faith or their gods, abnegating their authority or their control, abnegating ideas and possibilities, abnegating their rights or claims, abnegating their own dreams or ambitions, abnegating their own will or conscience, abnegating morality or common sense, etc. Often, when we say "abnegation," what we really mean is "self-abnegation," or a denial of your own preferred whims, pleasures, luxuries, and so on: "He leads a holy life of abnegation." examples: It's frightening how some televangelists build their own wealth by extorting their self-abnegating followers. "Some view the [wild and weed-infested farm] as an immoral eyesore, an abnegation of our responsibility to keep land productive and tidy."    —The Guardian, 15 June 2018 study it now: Look away from the screen to define "abnegation" without saying "renunciation" or "self-denial." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "It's an abnegation of (someone's) duties as a (type of worker) to _____." Example: "It's an abnegation of his duties as a Congressman to refuse to meet with his constituents." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. This month, we're playing "Sleek Slogans." I'll take a familiar slogan from a company or a product, express that slogan in plain language, and tell you the specific qualities the slogan has (like rhyme or alliteration), and then you come up with the real slogan as well as the name of the company or product. From the previous issue: Rewrite this slogan by using imagery, hyperbole (exaggeration), and concision (the use of as few words as possible): "Our product provides you with so much energy that you feel like you could fly." Answer: That's a slogan for Red Bull: "Red Bull gives you wings."  Try this one today: Rewrite this slogan by using parallelism (the use of balanced clauses or phrases) and antithesis (the side-by-side placement of contrasting ideas): "You can hold our product in your hand and it won’t become messy or sticky, but when you eat it, it’ll pleasantly dissolve." review today's word: 1. The opposite of ABNEGATE is A. EMIT. B. EPITOMIZE. C. ESPOUSE. 2. Hoping to bolster his public image as a self-abnegator, he _____. A. spent six months volunteering in an orphanage B. voted to cut his own salary by eighty percent C. jailed his ideological opponents Answers are below. a final word: Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From Liesl's blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. C 2. B