1
as in temperateness
an avoidance of extremes in one's actions, beliefs, or habits
my father attributes his ripe old age to temperance in all things, especially eating and drinking
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in abstinence
voluntary restraint in the satisfaction of one's appetites
practices a blue-blooded temperance that his parvenu neighbors will never understand
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of temperance
The local temperance group was thought to be behind it, but nothing could be proven.
—
Terry Shaw, Twin Cities, 17 Apr. 2024
The second report, released in December by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, caused a stir in the research and temperance communities.
—Daniel De Visé, USA TODAY, 15 Feb. 2025
Where temperance crusaders once wielded biblical rhetoric, today’s public health researchers arrive with cancer studies and statistics.
—Jackie Snow, Quartz, 13 Jan. 2025
The country's past cultural battles, over immigration, slavery, evolution, temperance, McCarthyism, and civil rights, were arguably more serious than any of today's.
—Joseph S. Nye Jr., Foreign Affairs, 1 Nov. 2010
See All Example Sentences for temperance
Terry Shaw, Twin Cities, 17 Apr. 2024
The second report, released in December by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, caused a stir in the research and temperance communities.
—Daniel De Visé, USA TODAY, 15 Feb. 2025
Where temperance crusaders once wielded biblical rhetoric, today’s public health researchers arrive with cancer studies and statistics.
—Jackie Snow, Quartz, 13 Jan. 2025
The country's past cultural battles, over immigration, slavery, evolution, temperance, McCarthyism, and civil rights, were arguably more serious than any of today's.
—Joseph S. Nye Jr., Foreign Affairs, 1 Nov. 2010
See All Example Sentences for temperance
Recent Examples of Synonyms for temperance
Noun
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The Catholic Church mandates abstinence from meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays during Lent as an act of sacrifice and self-discipline.—
Russel Honoré,
Newsweek,
5 Mar. 2025
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Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting and abstinence for many Catholics and other Christian denominations.—
John Bacon,
USA TODAY,
5 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Miranda allegedly failed field sobriety testing and was taken into custody before being transported to Troop H in Hartford.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
1 Apr. 2025
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Somebody who is abusing other drugs or has really struggled with sobriety, with serious addiction.—
Ben Tinker,
CNN Money,
30 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The special section of Art Bulletin—which, as the discipline’s flagship journal, constitutes a semiofficial statement about AI’s importance in the field—devoted the majority of its space to critical commentary about the application of computer vision to works of art.—
Sonja Drimmer,
Artforum,
1 Apr. 2025
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That discipline has helped broaden the National Rally’s appeal, especially in the aftermath of Macron’s defeat in the 2024 European elections.—
Thomas Adamson,
Los Angeles Times,
1 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The chance that American attacks on Houthis could prompt attacks on Saudi Arabia and a renewal of the kingdom’s brutal war in Yemen was a chief concern of the Biden administration, a prime reason that White House operated with a degree of restraint in its strikes on Houthi targets.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
26 Mar. 2025
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Sullivan, 56, was charged with first-degree unlawful restraint, cruelty to persons and first-degree reckless endangerment.—
Livi Stanford,
Hartford Courant,
25 Mar. 2025
Noun
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This includes the five major types: stress incontinence, urge incontinence, mixed incontinence, overflow incontinence, and functional continence.—
Jamin Brahmbhatt,
Verywell Health,
29 July 2024
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Good posture helps maintain continence, support pelvic organs, and reduce back pain.—
Staci Tanouye,
Parents,
29 Aug. 2023
Noun
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But the biblical term for self-denial – inui – has another meaning.—
Rabbi Avi Weiss,
Sun Sentinel,
7 Oct. 2024
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The Ford Focus Electric, with its appealing, Euro-hatchback lines, lacks the frumpy feel of self-denial often associated with electric cars.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
28 Mar. 2012
Noun
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The audience responds gratefully to this level of self-abnegation, and the frankly chilling sounds that come out of her.—
Helen Shaw,
The New Yorker,
25 Oct. 2024
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His self-abnegation proved successful: Trump endorsed him, and Vance won the primary and then the general election.—
Benjamin Wallace-Wells,
The New Yorker,
15 July 2024
Cite this Entry
“Temperance.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/temperance. Accessed 5 Apr. 2025.
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