Dictionary.com

teetotal

[ tee-toht-l, tee-toht-l ]
/ tiˈtoʊt l, ˈtiˌtoʊt l /
Save This Word!
See synonyms for: teetotally on Thesaurus.com

adjective
of or relating to, advocating, or pledged to total abstinence from intoxicating drink.
Informal. absolute; complete.
verb (used without object), tee·to·taled, tee·to·tal·ing or (especially British) tee·to·talled, tee·to·tal·ling.
to practice teetotalism.
QUIZ
GOOSES. GEESES. I WANT THIS QUIZ ON PLURAL NOUNS!
Test how much you really know about regular and irregular plural nouns with this quiz.
Question 1 of 9
Which of the following nouns has an irregular plural form?

Origin of teetotal

Reduplicated variant of total, coined by R. Turner, of Preston, England, in 1833, in a speech advocating total abstinence from alcoholic drinks

OTHER WORDS FROM teetotal

tee·to·tal·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use teetotal in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for teetotal

teetotal
/ (tiːˈtəʊtəl) /

adjective
of, relating to, or practising abstinence from alcoholic drink
dialect complete

Derived forms of teetotal

teetotaller, nounteetotally, adverbteetotalism, noun

Word Origin for teetotal

C19: allegedly coined in 1833 by Richard Turner, English advocate of total abstinence from alcoholic liquors; probably from total, with emphatic reduplication
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
FEEDBACK