self-discipline

/ˌˈsɛlf ˌdɪsɪplɪn/

/sɛlfˈdɪsɪplɪn/

When you are in control of your feelings or impulses, that's called self-discipline. Even if it takes a lot of self-discipline not to giggle when your teacher solemnly scolds the class, you shouldn't let yourself do it.

Someone who has the trait of self-discipline is described as self-disciplined. It takes self-discipline to do all sorts of things, from practicing piano every day until you're ready for your recital, to resisting the urge to eat the cupcakes your brother baked for dessert, or biting your tongue instead of telling your cranky neighbor what you really think of her yappy dog. Discipline is used here to mean "practice, knowledge, or training," rather than "punishment."

Definitions of self-discipline

1. noun

   the trait of practicing self discipline
   synonyms: self-denial

   types:

   asceticism, austerity, nonindulgence

   the trait of great self-denial (especially refraining from worldly pleasures)

   abstention, abstinence

   the trait of abstaining (especially from alcohol)

   continence, continency

   the exercise of self constraint in sexual matters

   monasticism

   asceticism as a form of religious life; usually conducted in a community under a common rule and characterized by celibacy and poverty and obedience

   type of:

   discipline

   the trait of being well behaved
2. noun

   the act of denying yourself; controlling your impulses
   synonyms: self-control, self-denial

   types:

   abstinence

   act or practice of refraining from indulging an appetite

   ascesis, asceticism

   rigorous self-denial and active self-restraint

   mortification

   (Christianity) the act of mortifying the lusts of the flesh by self-denial and privation (especially by bodily pain or discomfort inflicted on yourself)

   celibacy, chastity, sexual abstention

   abstaining from sexual relations (as because of religious vows)

   sobriety, temperance

   abstaining from excess

   teetotaling, teetotalism

   abstaining from alcohol

   fast, fasting

   abstaining from food

   inhibition, suppression

   (psychology) the conscious exclusion of unacceptable thoughts or desires

   sawm

   the fourth pillar of Islam is fasting (primarily during the month of Ramadan); Muslims abstain from food and drink and gambling and all sensuous pleasures from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan

   type of:

   control

   the activity of managing or exerting control over something