indulge

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
9
Words With Friends
13
Letters
7
Pronunciation
/ɪnˈdʌld͡ʒ/

Definition of indulge

5 senses · 1 part of speech · etymology included

verb

  1. (intransitive, often)To yield to a temptation or desire.
    “He looked at the chocolate but didn't indulge.”
    “I indulged in drinking on the weekend.”
    “Richardson took over, and Mitchell proceeded to the refreshment room in his turn, but when he came back some ten minutes later, it was evident that he had been indulging in something more potent than coffee, and he was in a very muddled state.”
    “How can the unions - or more specifically the RMT - possibly think this is a good time to exert a bit of industrial muscle and indulge in strikes both on the national railway and the London Underground?”
See all 5 definitions

verb

  1. (intransitive, often)To yield to a temptation or desire.
    “He looked at the chocolate but didn't indulge.”
    “I indulged in drinking on the weekend.”
    “Richardson took over, and Mitchell proceeded to the refreshment room in his turn, but when he came back some ten minutes later, it was evident that he had been indulging in something more potent than coffee, and he was in a very muddled state.”
    “How can the unions - or more specifically the RMT - possibly think this is a good time to exert a bit of industrial muscle and indulge in strikes both on the national railway and the London Underground?”
  2. (transitive)To satisfy the wishes or whims of.
    “Grandma indulges the kids with sweets.”
    “I love to indulge myself with beautiful clothes.”
    “August 30, 1706, Francis Atterbury, a sermon preach'd in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, at the funeral of Mr. Tho. Bennet Hope in another life implies that we indulge ourselves in the gratifications of this very sparingly.”
    “"She constantly faked being sick, and perhaps mistakenly, I indulged her more than I should have, pretending I couldn't tell. But I AM a teacher myself, so it's kind of hard to just let this slide."”
    “It’s the kind of scenario Peter Sellers might have dreamt up while brushing his teeth, and some of the comic set-pieces – including Nobby’s seduction of a fabulously overweight maid (Gabourey Sidibe) at a luxurious South African hotel – allow Baron Cohen to indulge his Sellersian fantasies to a previously unprecedented degree.”
  3. To give way to (a habit or temptation); to not oppose or restrain.
    “to indulge sloth, pride, selfishness, or inclinations”
  4. To grant an extension to the deadline of a payment.
  5. To grant as by favour; to bestow in concession, or in compliance with a wish or request.
    “persuading us that something must be indulged to public manners”
    “Yet, yet a moment, one dim ray of light / Indulge, dread Chaos, and eternal Night!”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Latin indulgeō (“to indulge”).

Anagrams of indulge

3 plays · some not in Scrabble

Best play dueling 9 points

Hooks

3 extensions · 3 back

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