Abstemious

/æbˈstiː.mɪ.əs/ · adjective

Meaning

Refraining from freely consuming food or strong drink; sparing in diet; abstinent, temperate..

Definitions by Sense

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. (rare) Promotive of abstemiousness.

Example Sentences

It cannot be denied it [the chameleon] is (if not the moſt of any) a very abſtemious animall, and ſuch as by reaſon of its frigidity, paucity of bloud, and latitancy in the winter (about which time the obſervations are often made) will long ſubſist without a viſible ſuſtentation.

Under his ſpecial eie / Abſtemious I [Samson] grew up and thriv'd amain; / He led me on to mightieſt deeds / Above the nerve of mortal arm / Againſt the uncircumciſ'd, our enemies.

In too great Repletion either the elaſtick Force of the Tube is totally deſtroy'd; or if it continue proportional to the Degree of Extenſion like a Bow too ſtrongly drawn, it throws the Fluid with too great a projectile Force forward through the Veſſels, and back upon the Heart, and ſubjects the Animal to all the Diſeaſes depending on a Plethory, and may bring it into immediate Danger. […] The Inſtances of Longevity are chiefly among the Abſtemious.

[…] I, abstemious naturally, and rendered so by the fever that preyed on me, was forced to recruit myself with food.

On turning around, I was instantly rivetted by his amazing emaciation; he seemed another "Lazarus, come forth" without his grave-clothes, […] Below the ribs, the trunk so immediately curves in, that the red band of the silk covering, though it is only loosely placed, seems a tourniquet to constrict the bowels within their prison-house, and the hip-bones, being of their natural size, the waist is like a wasp's. By this part of the frame we are reminded of some descriptions of the abstemious and Bedouin Arab of the desert, in whom it is said the abdomen seems to cling to the vertbræ.

In the dimness of the landing I could not see him very well, but there was something in his voice that surprised me. I knew he was of abstemious habit or I should have thought he had been drinking.

The other duel, which occurred much earlier but was indelible in the town's memory, was the one between Plinio Balmaceda and Dionisiano Barrios. The first was a member of an old and respectable family, an enormous, charming man but also a troublemaker with a wicked temper when he crossed paths with alcohol. […] Dionisiano Barrios was just the opposite: a timid, impaired man, an enemy of brawls and abstemious by nature.

The Ms had an abstemious sex life; in fourteen years of marriage, they had had sex exactly six times. Mrs. M desired sex and more children, but her husband refused.

Synonyms for abstemious

Antonyms for abstemious

Related Words

Word Forms

• more abstemious
• most abstemious

Usage Notes

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