indulge

English

Etymology

From Latin indulgeō (“I indulge”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈdʌld͡ʒ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌldʒ

Verb

indulge (third-person singular simple present indulges, present participle indulging, simple past and past participle indulged)

1. (intransitive, often followed by "in"): To yield to a temptation or desire.

   He looked at the chocolate but didn't indulge.

   I indulged in drinking on the weekend.

   • 2022 January 12, Christian Wolmar, “A new year... but the same old mistakes are being made”, in RAIL, number 948, pages 40-41:

     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.

   • 2013, Jocelyn Samara D., Rain, volume 1, →ISBN, page 193:

     "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."

   • 2016 February 23, Robbie Collin, “Grimsby review: ' Sacha Baron Cohen's vital, venomous action movie'”, in The Daily Telegraph (London):

     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.

   • 2019 November 21, Samanth Subramanian, “How our home delivery habit reshaped the world”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Internet shopping invites you to gaze out upon the entire bazaar all at once and to indulge the merest whim

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.
   • 1678, Antiquitates Christianæ: Or, the History of the Life and Death of the Holy Jesus: […], London: […] E. Flesher, and R. Norton, for R[ichard] Royston, […], OCLC 1179639832:

     persuading us that something must be indulged to public manners

   • 1728, [Alexander Pope], “(please specify the page)”, in The Dunciad. An Heroic Poem. […], Dublin; London: […] A. Dodd, OCLC 1033416756:

     Yet, yet a moment, one dim ray of light / Indulge, dread Chaos, and eternal Night!

Synonyms

• (to satisfy the wishes of): coddle, cosset, pamper, spoil
• See also Thesaurus:indulge

Related terms

• indulgence
• indulgent
• indulger

Translations

to yield to a temptation

• Azerbaijani: uymaq
• Bulgarian: отдавам се на (otdavam se na)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: oddávat se impf (pokušení)
• Dutch: toegeven (nl), zwichten (nl) (voor de verleiding)
• Esperanto: indulgi, dorloti (eo)
• Finnish: langeta (fi), sortua (fi)
• French: céder (fr), succomber (fr) (à la tentation)
• Galician: sucumbir
• German: nachgeben (de), erliegen (de)
• Greek: υποκύπτω (el) (ypokýpto), ενδίδω (el) (endído)

• Hebrew: הִתְעַנֵֵּג‎ (he) (hit'anég)
• Hungarian: elcsábul, hódol (hu), megenged magának, belemerül (hu)
• Maori: whakawaireka
• Occitan: cedir (oc), sucombir
• Portuguese: ceder (pt), sucumbir (pt)
• Russian: придаваться (ru) impf (pridavatʹsja), соблазня́ться (ru) impf (soblaznjátʹsja), соблазни́ться (ru) pf (soblaznítʹsja)
• Spanish: ceder (es), sucumbir (es)
• Swedish: unna (sv)
• Turkish: meyletmek (tr)

to satisfy the wishes or whims of

• Bulgarian: задоволявам (bg) (zadovoljavam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 放縱 (zh), 放纵 (zh) (fàngzòng), 放任 (zh) (fàngrèn), 姑息 (zh) (gūxī), 寬縱 (zh), 宽纵 (zh) (kuānzòng)

• Czech: uspokojit (cs) pf
• Dutch: in de watten leggen, verwennen (nl), koesteren (nl)
• Esperanto: cedi al
• Finnish: hemmotella (fi)
• French: dorloter (fr), gâter (fr), choyer (fr)
• Galician: consentir (gl), permitir (gl)
• German: frönen (de), hätscheln (de), verwöhnen (de)
• Greek: του κάνω όλα τα χατήρια (tou káno óla ta chatíria), κακομαθαίνω (el) (kakomathaíno), καλομαθαίνω (el) (kalomathaíno)

• Hebrew: סיפק‎ (he) (sipék)
• Hungarian: kényeztet (hu), elkényeztet (hu), kedvében jár, kedvét keresi, lesi/teljesíti (minden) kívánságát
• Japanese: 甘やかす (あまやかす, amayakasu)
• Maori: whakapuhi, whakawaireka, morimori
• Polish: folgować (pl) impf, rozpuszczać (pl) impf
• Portuguese: mimar (pt)
• Romanian: răsfăța (ro)
• Russian: потака́ть (ru) (potakátʹ), потво́рствовать (ru) (potvórstvovatʹ), балова́ть (ru) (balovátʹ), попусти́тельствовать (ru) (popustítelʹstvovatʹ), ублажа́ть (ru) (ublažátʹ)
• Spanish: mimar (es), consentir (es)
• Turkish: memnun etmek (tr), şımartmak (tr)

to give way to (a habit or temptation), not to oppose or restrain

• Bulgarian: позволявам си (pozvoljavam si)
• Czech: dát průchod pf (citům, návyku)

• Hungarian: átadja magát, kielégít (hu)
• Polish: folgować (pl) impf, ulegać (pl) impf, ulec (pl) pf

to grant extension to payment

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Dutch: uitstel van betaling toestaan

• Finnish: antaa maksuaikaa (fi)
• French: accorder un délai de paiement
• Hungarian: haladékot ad
• Russian: отсро́чить (ru) (otsróčitʹ)

Anagrams

• Legundi, dueling, eluding

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Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /inˈdul.d͡ʒe/
• Rhymes: -uldʒe
• Hyphenation: in‧dùl‧ge

Verb

indulge

1. third-person singular present indicative of indulgere

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Latin

Verb

indulgē

1. second-person singular present active imperative of indulgeō