ascetic

adjective

as·​cet·​ic ə-ˈse-tik 

a-

variants or less commonly ascetical

ə-ˈse-ti-kəl 

1

: practicing strict self-denial as a measure of personal and especially spiritual discipline

an ascetic monk

an ascetic diet

2

: austere in appearance, manner, or attitude

ascetic noun

ascetically

ə-ˈse-ti-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Did you know?

If you’ve been refraining from adding ascetic to your vocabulary, it’s time to let your hair down and live a little! In other words, be the opposite of ascetic. Ascetic comes from askētikos, a Greek adjective meaning “laborious,” and its earliest meaning in English implies the labor involved in abstention from pleasure, comfort, and self-indulgence as a spiritual discipline. These days, ascetic is also used to describe anyone or anything demonstrating marked restraint, plainness, or simplicity, even when no appeals to the divine or spiritual are attached, making it not unlike another adjective with connections to ancient Greece: spartan.

Choose the Right Synonym for ascetic

severe, stern, austere, ascetic mean given to or marked by strict discipline and firm restraint.

severe implies standards enforced without indulgence or laxity and may suggest harshness.

severe military discipline

stern stresses inflexibility and inexorability of temper or character.

stern arbiters of public morality

austere stresses absence of warmth, color, or feeling and may apply to rigorous restraint, simplicity, or self-denial.

living an austere life in the country

ascetic implies abstention from pleasure and comfort or self-indulgence as spiritual discipline.

the ascetic life of the monks

Examples of ascetic in a Sentence

Patterson's collection begins on the walls of the stairway to his basement. "That's where Cindy draws the line. That's probably a real good idea," he says. Mattsson, ascetic for a bachelor, imposes the same rule on himself. LeBeau, who has never been married, is much less restrained. —Tom Harpole, Air & Space, December 1999/January 2000

By Hollywood standards, Calley's career path may seem enigmatic, but then, so is his personality. If Mark Canton, the previous Sony president, was the boastful, Armani-clad big spender, Calley is downright ascetic, a man who disdains Hollywood profligacy. —Peter Bart, GQ, August 1997

He converted to Catholicism and, after a long period of intense self-questioning, became a Trappist monk at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky, which, at the time, was as ascetic and demanding as any monastery of the Middle Ages. —Julius Lester, Falling Pieces of the Broken Sky, 1990

Recent Examples on the Web

As a celibate ascetic, Ayyappan should be spared the tempting presence of fertile women—that is, women between menarche and menopause. —Deepa Das Acevedo, Foreign Affairs, 4 Apr. 2019

The tale of Alexander the Great and the ascetic Diogenes illustrates my point. —Armstrong Williams, Baltimore Sun, 1 Dec. 2024

His personal life also provides plenty of fodder for the curious: Mondrian had a series of liaisons with women, and probably men as well, but lived alone in an ascetic studio. —Julie Belcove, Robb Report, 23 Nov. 2024

In their propaganda videos, the men appeared as ascetic warriors, sitting on the ground in caves, studying in libraries, or taking refuge in remote camps. —Audrey Kurth Cronin, Foreign Affairs, 18 Feb. 2015

Word History

Etymology

Greek askētikos, literally, laborious, from askētēs one that exercises, hermit, from askein to work, exercise

First Known Use

1646, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

ascetic

adjective

as·​cet·​ic ə-ˈset-ik 

a-

1

: following a practice of not giving in to one's desires especially as a means of religious discipline

an ascetic way of life

2

: harshly simple : austere

ascetic surroundings

ascetic noun

asceticism

ə-ˈset-ə-ˌsiz-əm 

noun