abstemious

adjective

ab·ste·mi·ous ab-ˈstē-mē-əs How to pronounce abstemious (audio)

formal

: marked by restraint especially in the eating of food or drinking of alcohol

an abstemious drinker

also : reflecting such restraint

an abstemious diet

abstemiously adverb

abstemiousness noun

Did you know?

Abstemious and abstain look alike, and both have meanings involving self-restraint or self-denial. So they must both come from the same root, right? Yes and no. Both get their start from the Latin prefix abs-, meaning "from" or "away." But abstain traces to the Latin abstinēre, a combination of abs- and the Latin verb tenēre ("to hold"), while abstemious comes from the Latin abstēmius, which combines abs- with tēm- (a stem found in the Latin tēmētum, "intoxicating beverage," and tēmulentus, "drunken") and the adjectival suffix -ius ("full of, abounding in, having, possessing the qualities of").

Example Sentences

She is known as an abstemious eater and drinker. being abstemious diners, they avoid restaurants with all-you-can-eat buffets

Recent Examples on the Web Carter was consistently ethical, abstemious, frugal and ascetic in the White House.

Washington Post, 18 June 2021 This woman, Margaret Bolden Wilson, was a Seventh-day Adventist who would have been considered abstemious even by the most devout.

Colin Asher, The New Republic, 19 Apr. 2021 People grow more risk-averse, abstemious, religious.

Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2021 In a nation with an abstemious Protestant cultural heritage, self-indulgence—and comfort for its own sake—will always find hackles to raise.

Amanda Mull, The Atlantic, 8 Dec. 2020 Gay, bow-tied, effusive, charismatic, and possessed of a lavish appetite, Beard had the misfortune to live in an era at once bigoted, repressed, paranoid, abstemious, and uninterestingly dressed.

Aaron Timms, The New Republic, 4 Dec. 2020 Glenn is abstemious, churchgoing, devoted to his childhood sweetheart wife; Shepard lives the rock star life away from his wife, Louise (Shannon Lucio), drinking and philandering and cruising Florida’s Cocoa Beach in a Corvette convertible.

cleveland, 9 Oct. 2020 Freddy was an awkward fit in a proud, humorless, abstemious family.

Anne Diebel, The New York Review of Books, 8 Sep. 2020 This year’s exercise, which runs from August 17th to 31st, will be a more abstemious affair.

The Economist, 16 Aug. 2020 See More

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin abstēmius "refraining from wine, careful with one's means," from abs- (variant of ab- ab- before c- and t-) + -tēmius, from a base tēm- "intoxicating" (also in tēmētum "intoxicating beverage," tēmulentus "drunken"); if going back to an Indo-European root *temH-, akin to Sanskrit tāmyati "(he/she) is stunned, loses consciousness, is exhausted," tamayati "(he/she) chokes (someone)," Armenian tʿmrim "(he/she) is stunned" (perhaps going back to *tēmiro-)

First Known Use

1609, in the meaning defined above

单词	abstemious
释义	abstemious adjective ab·ste·mi·ous ab-ˈstē-mē-əs formal : marked by restraint especially in the eating of food or drinking of alcohol an abstemious drinker also : reflecting such restraint an abstemious diet abstemiously adverb abstemiousness noun Did you know? Abstemious and abstain look alike, and both have meanings involving self-restraint or self-denial. So they must both come from the same root, right? Yes and no. Both get their start from the Latin prefix abs-, meaning "from" or "away." But abstain traces to the Latin abstinēre, a combination of abs- and the Latin verb tenēre ("to hold"), while abstemious comes from the Latin abstēmius, which combines abs- with tēm- (a stem found in the Latin tēmētum, "intoxicating beverage," and tēmulentus, "drunken") and the adjectival suffix -ius ("full of, abounding in, having, possessing the qualities of"). Synonyms abstentious abstinent continent self-abnegating self-denying sober temperate See all Synonyms & Antonyms Example Sentences She is known as an abstemious eater and drinker. being abstemious diners, they avoid restaurants with all-you-can-eat buffets Recent Examples on the Web Carter was consistently ethical, abstemious, frugal and ascetic in the White House. Washington Post, 18 June 2021 This woman, Margaret Bolden Wilson, was a Seventh-day Adventist who would have been considered abstemious even by the most devout. Colin Asher, The New Republic, 19 Apr. 2021 People grow more risk-averse, abstemious, religious. Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2021 In a nation with an abstemious Protestant cultural heritage, self-indulgence—and comfort for its own sake—will always find hackles to raise. Amanda Mull, The Atlantic, 8 Dec. 2020 Gay, bow-tied, effusive, charismatic, and possessed of a lavish appetite, Beard had the misfortune to live in an era at once bigoted, repressed, paranoid, abstemious, and uninterestingly dressed. Aaron Timms, The New Republic, 4 Dec. 2020 Glenn is abstemious, churchgoing, devoted to his childhood sweetheart wife; Shepard lives the rock star life away from his wife, Louise (Shannon Lucio), drinking and philandering and cruising Florida’s Cocoa Beach in a Corvette convertible. cleveland, 9 Oct. 2020 Freddy was an awkward fit in a proud, humorless, abstemious family. Anne Diebel, The New York Review of Books, 8 Sep. 2020 This year’s exercise, which runs from August 17th to 31st, will be a more abstemious affair. The Economist, 16 Aug. 2020 See More Word History Etymology borrowed from Latin abstēmius "refraining from wine, careful with one's means," from abs- (variant of ab- ab- before c- and t-) + -tēmius, from a base tēm- "intoxicating" (also in tēmētum "intoxicating beverage," tēmulentus "drunken"); if going back to an Indo-European root temH-, akin to Sanskrit tāmyati* "(he/she) is stunned, loses consciousness, is exhausted," tamayati "(he/she) chokes (someone)," Armenian tʿmrim "(he/she) is stunned" (perhaps going back to tēmiro-) First Known Use 1609, in the meaning defined above abstemious adjective as in ascetic* given to or marked by restraint in the satisfaction of one's appetites being abstemious diners, they avoid restaurants with all-you-can-eat buffets Synonyms & Similar Words Relevance ascetic abstinent temperate ascetical abstentious sober self-denying self-abnegating continent austere disciplined self-disciplined self-controlled self-governed Antonyms & Near Antonyms gluttonous voracious greedy hedonistic sybaritic voluptuous rapacious sensual self-indulgent voluptuary onanistic self-pleasing masturbatory Cyrenaic See More
随便看	heterochely heterochlamydeous Heterochloridales heterochromatic heterochromatin heterochromatins heterochromatisms heterochrome heterochromic heterochromomere heterochromosomes heterochromous heterochronisms heterochthonous heteroclite heteroclites heteroclitic heteroclitics Heterococcales Heterocoela heterocoelan heterocoelous heterocont Heterocontae Heterocotylea

abstemious

adjective

Did you know?

Synonyms

Example Sentences

Word History

adjective