Abstemious
[əb-STEE-mee-əs]
Part of speech: adjective
Origin: Latin, early 17th century
1.
Indulging only very moderately in something, especially food and drink.
Examples of Abstemious in a sentence
"He threw his abstemious diet out the window and indulged in cake on his birthday."
"The family was very abstemious, keeping no sugar or junk food in the house."
About Abstemious
Abstemius in Latin is spelled slightly differently from its English counterpart, "abstemious," but they mean the same thing. In Latin, "ab" means "from" and "temetum" means "alcoholic drink." An abstemious man is one who does not indulge in excessive food or drink.
Did you Know?
There’s a fun trick hidden in the word "abstemious." Take a look at the vowels — notice anything? Each vowel appears only once and in alphabetical order. Feel free to use this bit of trivia at your next happy hour.
