From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishasceticas‧cet‧ic /əˈsetɪk/ adjective RELIGIONliving without any physical pleasures or comforts, especially for religious reasons an ascetic life —ascetic noun [countable] —asceticism /-tɪsɪzəm/ noun [uncountable]
Examples from the Corpus
ascetic• At the same time, however, the Church also honored an ascetic ideal.• They belonged to an ascetic Jewish sect called the Essenes• Louis became an extremely devout and ascetic man.• The church itself became a two-class system: the ascetic monasteries versus the more worldly regular clergy.• Like the ascetic movement of which it was an outgrowth, monasticism had its origins in the Middle East.• Other forms of holiness - that of the virgin and the ascetic - were assimilated to martyrdom.• Counterbalancing this ascetic wunderkind is his brother, Charles Solomon.Origin ascetic (1600-1700) Greek asketikos, from asketes “person who exercises, hermit”, from askein “to work, exercise” 