teetotal
Americanadjective
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of or relating to, advocating, or pledged to total abstinence from intoxicating drink.
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Informal. absolute; complete.
verb (used without object)
adjective
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of, relating to, or practising abstinence from alcoholic drink
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dialect complete
Other Word Forms
Etymology
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
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.
See Examples For:
Zero-alcohol beers helped drive sales last year, the company said, as the teetotal portfolio, led by Corona Cero, surged 34% on year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
The instinctive caution of Mr Sunak, scrupulously careful on camera, a disciplined, teetotal man of faith.
From BBC ● Mar. 21, 2023
For quite a few people, this teetotal millennial - he had his 40th birthday during the first lockdown - appeared to be a reassuringly steady hand at the tiller.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2022
He has been drug-free, teetotal and vegan since he was 30.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 7, 2020
Captain Armytage, who never missed a merrymaking of any description within a circle of miles, took on himself to reply to this teetotal oration.
From Cedar Creek From the Shanty to the Settlement by Elizabeth Hely Walshe
Still, he says, even teetotaling Gen Xers still uphold a certain bar etiquette.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Whether teetotaling, temperance or virgin, they’re just drinks, after all — though I suppose their intricacy beyond fresh-squeezed juice demands we label them something nobler.
From Salon ● Feb. 15, 2024
Griffith’s teetotaling ways might have been mainstream in the 1920s, but following Prohibition’s repeal in December 1933, they made him an anachronism among baseball owners.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 11, 2023
This year, more demand for sober revelry has led some bars and restaurants to offer teetotaling alternatives to the festivities, as well as a greater focus on Irish food and music.
From New York Times ● Mar. 17, 2023
Despite its Mormon majority, Utah is far from a teetotaling state.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 14, 2021
The teetotalling revolutionaries operated for years out of a second-floor office, above a liquor store, far from the diplomatic quarter.
From The New Yorker ● Feb. 10, 2019
Does Paulson, the devout Christian Scientist, the teetotalling college football star, have some secret affiliation with 60s radicalism?
From The Guardian ● Feb. 10, 2017
Too many teetotalling whimsy cats in the scene for my liking.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 3, 2012
Playing a steady, nerveless game, the 34-year-old teetotalling saloon owner came from behind to catch American Walker Cup Player Bill Campbell and beat him 2 and 1 in the 36-hole final round.
From Time Magazine Archive
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