as in dry
a person who abstains from alcoholic beverages
for religious reasons she's been a total abstainer her entire life
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Recent Examples of abstainer
Heavier drinkers had higher mortality than lighter drinkers, but the study excluded lifelong abstainers — many of whom stop drinking because of illness or medication use.
—
Robert M. Kaplan, STAT, 1 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abstainer
Noun
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In recent years, bars across the city have started offering mocktails and non-alcoholic beer and wine so teetotalers aren't limited to soda water and lime.—
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Gone are the days when teetotalers were limited to a syrupy Shirley Temple or a soda loaded with high-fructose corn syrup or aspartame.—
Noun
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Those studies, however, focused on older people and didn’t differentiate between former drinkers and lifelong nondrinkers, thus potentially skewing the results, study authors said.—
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The risk of ischemic heart disease was lower than that of nondrinkers at all six drinking levels.—
Cite this Entry
“Abstainer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abstainer. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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