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
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.
In the immoderate “Poem of Ecstasy,” a solo violin sings of love.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 4, 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
At times, under stress and suffering from some more than usually immoderate outbreak on her husband's part, she would let herself go in a way that pained and surprised him, both as friend and doctor.
From Maid of the Mist by Oxenham, 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.
