hair-shirt

9.9

A person or attitude that gives up comfort more than needed for moral reasons

adjective
/ˈhɛrˌʃɜrt/

Formal

: austeridad

She lives a hair-shirt lifestyle, often refusing to indulge in even the simplest pleasures.

Examples

His speech was hair-shirt in nature, emphasizing sacrifice and the importance of self-denial.
Like a hair shirt around his waist, his fortune governed his shadow and memory.

Fiction book (1995)
I turned Dietrich into John Travolta, the shimmering 1930s gown becoming a white suit, a chest-hair shirt, a gold medallion.

Fiction book (1994)
His hair-shirt attitude made it difficult for him to enjoy the luxuries that others embraced.

Synonyms

hair-shirted

vshair-shirt

Formal

9.9

Choosing to live very simply and give up comforts for moral or religious reasons

is more about excessive or needless self-denial rather than penance

How Ascetic

asceticism

Formal

3 9.4

hair-shirt

Formal

9.9

austerity

5 8.2

self-restraint

7 4.6

moderation

47 3.5

Surface Forms

hair-shirt positive

Morphology

hair-shirt = hair + shirt (opaque) = hair + shirt

Although literally 'hair' + 'shirt', the figurative meaning 'self-denying or penitential' comes from a specific historical practice and is not predictable for an average learner.

Etymology

The word hair-shirt comes from the old practice of wearing a rough hair shirt made of animal hair to 'punish' yourself for sins because it was painful and 'uncomfortable'. That's why calling someone 'hair-shirt' today means they are very 'self-denying' or needlessly strict, as if they choose hardship over pleasure.