English Explanatory Dictionary

abstemious

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Refraining from freely consuming food or strong drink; sparing in diet; abstinent, temperate.
  2. Sparing in the indulgence of the appetite or passions.
  3. Sparingly used; used with temperance or moderation.
  4. Marked by, or spent in, abstinence.
  5. Promotive of abstemiousness.

Pronunciation

/æbˈstiː.mɪ.əs/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-abstemious.wav /æbˈsti.mi.əs/ /əb-/

Word forms

abstemious more abstemious most abstemious

Etymology

From Latin abstēmius (“abstaining from wine”); from ab, abs (“from”) + tēmus, a root of tēmētum (“intoxicating drink, especially strong mead or wine”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *temH- (“dark (referring to the colour of wine)”)) + -ous.

Synonyms

abstemious abstentious abstinent sober spareful temperate continent otherish selfless self-abnegatory self-denying self-flagellatory self-sacrificing unselfish calm collected composed cool dispassionate inexcitable imperturbable regular sedate steady staid undisturbed unexcitable unexcited unimpassioned unpassionate unperturbed unruffled unstirred unsusceptible frugal sparing canny chary moderate cheap close with a buck economic economical husbandly huswifely parsimonious penny-pinching prudent spary thrifty tight tightwad

Antonyms

voracious hedonistic nonabstemious nonabstinent nontemperate unabstemious unsober extravagant squandering improvident imprudent lavish loose-handed prodigal profligate reckless spendthrift uneconomical unthrifty wasteful

Related words

abstain abstainer abstainment abstention abstinence abstinent nonabstainer ascetic ascetical puritanical self-abnegatory serious stern

Derived words

abstemiously abstemiousness nonabstemious overabstemious unabstemious
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on A Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary