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 next day marked the beginning of abstinence from those items or the Lenten season.—
Saleen Martin,
USA TODAY,
3 Mar. 2025
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The 39-year-old actor has had his fair share of odd jobs, including catering deviled eggs, waffles, and other treats, and teaching abstinence to high schoolers.—
Kalia Richardson,
Rolling Stone,
25 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Each individual’s path to sobriety might look different, but the common denominator is receiving help from people who are willing to do it for free.—
Christian Zilko,
IndieWire,
14 Mar. 2025
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The singer marked six months of sobriety in the summer of 2023 after completing treatment in a US facility.—
Alli Rosenbloom,
CNN,
12 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Yet, despite the Jayhawks’ inarguable strengths, there were times throughout the current season when Self’s men looked lackluster, tossing on-court discipline and good form to the wind.—
Andy Frye,
Forbes,
20 Mar. 2025
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The inappropriate language Trooper Proctor used in private text messages read aloud in open court were mistakes that may warrant discipline and corrective action.—
Flint McColgan,
Boston Herald,
19 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Sullivan was being held on charges of assault, kidnapping, unlawful restraint, cruelty to persons and reckless endangerment before she was released on Thursday after posting $300,000 bail.—
Jessica Schladebeck,
New York Daily News,
15 Mar. 2025
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Sullivan, a 56-year-old Connecticut woman, has been charged with assault, kidnapping, unlawful restraint, cruelty and reckless endangerment.—
Mark Davis,
Newsweek,
14 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 27 Mar. 2025.
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