immoderate

American  

[ih-mod-er-it] / ɪˈmɒd ər ɪt /

adjective

1. not moderate; exceeding just or reasonable limits; excessive; extreme.

   Synonyms:

   extravagant, inordinate, unreasonable, exorbitant

2. Obsolete. intemperate.

3. Obsolete. without bounds.

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immoderate British  

/ ɪˈmɒdərɪt, ɪˈmɒdrɪt /

adjective

1. lacking in moderation; excessive

   immoderate demands

2. obsolete venial; intemperate

   immoderate habits

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Other Word Forms

• immoderately adverb
• immoderateness noun
• immoderation noun

Etymology

Origin of immoderate

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Latin word immoderātus. See im- ², moderate

Explanation

Something that goes way overboard or is excessive is immoderate. Immoderate exercise can lead to pulled muscles and sprains. If someone's behavior is unreasonable or extreme, you can call it immoderate. Immoderate spending results in arms full of shopping bags and a whole lot of credit card debt, and immoderate eating at a huge breakfast buffet can give you a stomach ache for the rest of the day. Immoderate is the opposite of the adjective moderate, which means calm or restrained. Both words have the same Latin root, moderatus, "within bounds, or observing moderation."

Example Sentences

The Polish operatic actress Helena Modjeska founded a 19th-century utopian colony in Anaheim, but it foundered, in no small part because of immoderate weather, like the wind.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 28, 2021

Ehrenreich records the medieval Christian church’s long battle to eradicate unruly, ecstatic or immoderate dancing from the congregation.

From The Guardian • Jun. 2, 2020

MacCulloch paints a portrait of Cromwell as a brilliant individualist with a talent for making money, a head for languages, an immoderate love of books and many friends.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 10, 2018

She inveighed against “too frequent resort to separate opinions and the immoderate tone of statements.”

From The New Yorker • Oct. 1, 2018

He suffered those torments of humiliation which only a small soul, with small views of things and an immoderate vanity, has learned the petty trick of suffering.

From An Ambitious Woman A Novel by Fawcett, Edgar