immoderate
Americanadjective
-
not moderate; exceeding just or reasonable limits; excessive; extreme.
- Synonyms:
- extravagant, inordinate, unreasonable, exorbitant
-
Obsolete. intemperate.
-
Obsolete. without bounds.
adjective
-
lacking in moderation; excessive
immoderate demands
-
obsolete venial; intemperate
immoderate habits
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."
Vocabulary lists containing immoderate
"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"
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The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
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Measure for Measure
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
But the immoderate 6-year-old remains his default setting.
From New York Times • Mar. 12, 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
His chiefe acquaintance and familiar friends were no other then Normans; towards whom being a milde and soft spirited Prince, he was very bountifull, and almost immoderate in his fauours.
From The Lives of the III Normans, Kings of England: William the First, William the Second, Henrie the First by Hayward, John
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
