Abstemious
abˈstēmēəs
Adjective
- Not self-indulgent, especially when eating and drinking.
Example Sentences
“Let’s stay abstemious at the party since we have an early flight tomorrow morning.”
“He threw his abstemious diet out the window and indulged in cake on his birthday.”
“Our cousins are very abstemious and don’t keep any sugar or junk food in the house.”
Word Origin
Latin, early 17th century
Why this word?
“Abstemius” in Latin is spelled slightly differently from its English counterpart, “abstemious,” but they mean the same thing. Broken down into the root Latin words, “ab-” means “from” and “temetum” means “alcoholic drink.” An abstemious person is one who does not indulge in excessive food or drink.
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