abstemious
/æbˈstiː.mɪ.əs/
"abstemious" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“abstemious” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Refraining from freely consuming food or strong drink; sparing in diet; abstinent, temperate.
Corpus desk
Index EN-abstemious · abstemious · English
abstemious · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "A" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | abstemious |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /æbˈstiː.mɪ.əs/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “abstemious” in English
Rare enough to double-check
abstemious is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /æbˈstiː.mɪ.əs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for abstemious, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin abstēmius (“abstaining from wine”); from ab, abs (“from”) + tēmus, a root of tēmētum (“intoxicating drink, especially strong mead or wine”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *temH- (“dark (referring to the colour of wine)”)) + -ous. The correct English form is abstemious, spelled A-B-S-T-E-M-I-O-U-S.
Definition
- 1Refraining from freely consuming food or strong drink; sparing in diet; abstinent, temperate.
- 2Sparing in the indulgence of the appetite or passions.
- 3Sparingly used; used with temperance or moderation.
- 4Marked by, or spent in, abstinence.
- 5Promotive of abstemiousness.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how abstemious appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
It cannot be denied it [the chameleon] is (if not the moſt of any) a very abſtemious animall, and ſuch as by reaſon of its frigidity, paucity of bloud, and latitancy in the winter (about which time the obſervations are often made) will long ſubſist without a viſible ſuſtentation.
Under his ſpecial eie / Abſtemious I [Samson] grew up and thriv'd amain; / He led me on to mightieſt deeds / Above the nerve of mortal arm / Againſt the uncircumciſ'd, our enemies.
Etymology
From Latin abstēmius (“abstaining from wine”); from ab, abs (“from”) + tēmus, a root of tēmētum (“intoxicating drink, especially strong mead or wine”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *temH- (“dark (referring to the colour of wine)”)) + -ous.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.