abstemious: Dictionary.com Word of the Day

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Word of the Day for Friday, June 5, 2009 abstemious \ab-STEE-mee-uhs\, adjective: 1. Sparing in eating and drinking; temperate; abstinent. 2. Sparingly used or consumed; used with temperance or moderation. 3. Marked by or spent in abstinence. They were healthy and abstemious; their chief pleasure was reading and Oliver was a life member of the London Library. -- Sylvia Townsend Warner, The Music at Long Verney For a man who trafficked in excess, he was surprisingly abstemious. -- Ralph Blumenthal, Stork Club When the 1796 outbreak of yellow fever turned into an epidemic, the frightened citizens followed each preventive vogue: herb tea, cold baths, cream of tartar, vinegar, camphor and abstemious diets. -- Christina Vella, Intimate Enemies Abstemious comes from Latin abstemius, from ab-, abs-, "away from" + the root of temetum, "intoxicating drink." Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for abstemious Yesterday's Word - Previous Words - Help
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