teetotal

English

Etymology

From total, the reduplicated tee being an intensifier – “T-total”, 1830s.

Adjective

teetotal (comparative more teetotal, superlative most teetotal)

1. Abstinent from alcohol; never drinking alcohol.

   Synonyms: on the wagon, straightedge

   Antonyms: alcoholic, dipsomaniac, drunkard

2. Opposed to the drinking of alcohol.
3. (dated, emphatic) Total.
   • 1858, Samuel Putnam Avery, The Harp of a Thousand Strings: Or, Laughter for a Lifetime, page 331:

     That's a teetotal lie.

Derived terms

terms derived from teetotal

• teetotaller, teetotaler
• teetotally

• teetotalling
• teetotalism

Translations

abstinent from alcohol

• Estonian: karske
• Finnish: raivoraitis (fi)
• French: abstinent (fr)
• German: gänzlich enthaltsam, völlig abstinent
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: astemio (it)
• Mandarin: 滴酒不沾的
• Russian: тре́звенник (ru) m (trézvennik), тре́звенница (ru) f (trézvennica)
• Spanish: abstemio (es) m

opposed to the drinking of alcohol

• Finnish: raivoraitis (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: abstemio (es) m

total

• Spanish: total (es) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

See also

• abstain
• temperance

Noun

teetotal (plural teetotals)

1. One who abstains from drinking alcohol.
   • 2004, Andrea Levy, Small Island, London: Review, Chapter Twelve, p. 137,^[1]

     Hubert is trying to persuade James, a strict Presbyterian and teetotal, to come into the pub.

   Synonyms: teetotaler, pioneer