indulge

C1 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ɪnˈdʌld͡ʒ/ See IPA manual

Freq #10653

Meanings

1

verb
To allow yourself to enjoy something pleasant, especially something you do not usually let yourself have.

Once a week I indulge in a big slice of chocolate cake.
2

verb
To let someone have or do whatever they want, often too much.

Grandma loves to indulge the children with sweets and toys.
3

verb
To give in to a feeling, habit, or desire instead of holding it back.

He tends to indulge his curiosity and read for hours.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to allow yourself to enjoy... luxuriate

2 verb · to let someone have or do... coddle cosset pamper spoil

More baby cocker featherbed mollycoddle mothernamby-pambynanny posset

Opposites

drive push work

Word family

Forms indulgedindulgesindulging

Derived forms indulgeableindulgeeindulgementindulginglyoverindulgereindulgeunderindulge

Related forms indulgence indulgentindulger

Etymology

From Latin indulgeō (“to indulge”).

indulgeō Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# indulge

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ɪnˈdʌld͡ʒ/
**Frequency rank:** 10653

## Meanings
1. To allow yourself to enjoy something pleasant, especially something you do not usually let yourself have.
2. To let someone have or do whatever they want, often too much.
3. To give in to a feeling, habit, or desire instead of holding it back.

## Examples
- Once a week I indulge in a big slice of chocolate cake.
- Grandma loves to indulge the children with sweets and toys.
- He tends to indulge his curiosity and read for hours.

## Synonyms
- baby
- cocker
- featherbed
- mollycoddle
- mother
- namby-pamby
- nanny
- posset

## Antonyms
- drive
- push
- work

## Derived Forms
- indulgeable
- indulgee
- indulgement
- indulgingly
- overindulge
- reindulge
- underindulge

## Related Forms
- indulgence
- indulgent
- indulger

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: indulgeō

## Etymology
From Latin indulgeō (“to indulge”).

## AI Etymology
Indulge comes from Latin indulgeō (“to indulge”).

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

markdown