Meaning & use
Intemperance
Last updated
Lack of self-restraint, especially with regard to indulging in alcohol or other appetites.
See it in a sentence
The doctor warned him that years of intemperance had damaged his liver.
The novel explores the social costs of intemperance in Victorian England.
A note on using this word
Historically tied to the 19th-century temperance movement, which campaigned against alcohol; the word now can apply to any form of excessive indulgence.
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