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INDULGENCE
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The remission by the pope of the temporal punishment in purgatory that is still due for sins even after absolution
Example:
in the Middle Ages the unrestricted sale of indulgences by pardoners became a widespread abuse
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("indulgence" is a kind of...):
absolution; remission; remission of sin; remittal (the act of absolving or remitting; formal redemption as pronounced by a priest in the sacrament of penance)
Domain category:
Church of Rome; Roman Catholic; Roman Catholic Church; Roman Church; Western Church (the Christian Church based in the Vatican and presided over by a pope and an episcopal hierarchy)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Foolish or senseless behavior
Synonyms:
craziness; folly; foolery; indulgence; lunacy; tomfoolery
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("indulgence" is a kind of...):
caper; frolic; gambol; play; romp (gay or light-hearted recreational activity for diversion or amusement)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "indulgence"):
meshugaas; mishegaas; mishegoss ((Yiddish) craziness; senseless behavior or activity)
buffoonery; clowning; frivolity; harlequinade; japery; prank (acting like a clown or buffoon)
Sense 3
Meaning:
The act of indulging or gratifying a desire
Synonyms:
humoring; indulgence; indulging; pampering
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("indulgence" is a kind of...):
gratification (the act or an instance of satisfying)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "indulgence"):
intemperance; intemperateness; self-indulgence (excess in action and immoderate indulgence of bodily appetites, especially in passion or indulgence)
excess; overindulgence (excessive indulgence)
binge; orgy; splurge (any act of immoderate indulgence)
Derivation:
indulge (give free rein to)
indulge (treat with excessive indulgence)
Sense 4
Meaning:
A disposition to yield to the wishes of someone
Example:
too much indulgence spoils a child
Synonyms:
indulgence; lenience; leniency
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("indulgence" is a kind of...):
permissiveness; tolerance (a disposition to allow freedom of choice and behavior)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "indulgence"):
softness (a disposition to be lenient in judging others)
Derivation:
indulge (yield (to); give satisfaction to)
indulgent (characterized by or given to yielding to the wishes of someone)
indulgent (tolerant or lenient)
Sense 5
Meaning:
An inability to resist the gratification of whims and desires
Synonyms:
indulgence; self-indulgence
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("indulgence" is a kind of...):
indiscipline; undiscipline (the trait of lacking discipline)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "indulgence"):
luxury (something that is an indulgence rather than a necessity)
Derivation:
indulge (enjoy to excess)
Context examples:
You are aware that my plan in bringing up these girls is, not to accustom them to habits of luxury and indulgence, but to render them hardy, patient, self-denying.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
The mother, out of pure indulgence, took me up, and put me towards the child, who presently seized me by the middle, and got my head into his mouth, where I roared so loud that the urchin was frighted, and let me drop, and I should infallibly have broke my neck, if the mother had not held her apron under me.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
I uncovered and louted as I passed thinking that he might be a holy man at his orisons, but he called to me and asked me if I had heard speak of the new indulgence in favor of the Cistercians.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I nearly spoiled her by indulgence.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
It was a real indulgence to her to hear or to speak of Mansfield.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
I sick of prosperity and indulgence!
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
The mischief of neglect and mistaken indulgence towards such a girl—oh! how acutely did she now feel it!
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
A more reasonable cause might be found in the dependent situation which forbade the indulgence of his affection.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
Indulgence in remembrance, and indulgence in forgetfulness.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
This indulgence, though not more than Catherine had hoped for, completed her conviction of being favoured beyond every other human creature, in friends and fortune, circumstance and chance.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
