INDULGENCE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does indulgence mean? 

• INDULGENCE (noun)
  The noun INDULGENCE has 5 senses:

1. an inability to resist the gratification of whims and desires

2. a disposition to yield to the wishes of someone

3. the act of indulging or gratifying a desire

4. foolish or senseless behavior

5. the remission by the pope of the temporal punishment in purgatory that is still due for sins even after absolution

  Familiarity information: INDULGENCE used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INDULGENCE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An inability to resist the gratification of whims and desires

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

indulgence; self-indulgence

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A disposition to yield to the wishes of someone

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

indulgence; lenience; leniency

Context example:

too much indulgence spoils a child

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 3

Meaning:

The act of indulging or gratifying a desire

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

humoring; indulgence; indulging; pampering

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:

Foolish or senseless behavior

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

craziness; folly; foolery; indulgence; lunacy; tomfoolery

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 5

Meaning:

The remission by the pope of the temporal punishment in purgatory that is still due for sins even after absolution

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

in the Middle Ages the unrestricted sale of indulgences by pardoners became a widespread abuse

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)

 Context examples 

He's my child, and I won't have his temper spoiled by indulgence.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

It is a great defect of temper, made worse by a very faulty habit of self-indulgence; and to see your sister suffering from it must be exceedingly painful to such feelings as yours.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

When that business was over, he applied to Miss Bingley and Elizabeth for an indulgence of some music.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

She might have prevented the indulgence and increase of such sentiments.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

The evening passed off in the equal indulgence of feeling.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

The veil of self-indulgence was rent from head to foot.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

My parents were possessed by the very spirit of kindness and indulgence.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Under ordinary circumstances, I should scruple to entreat the indulgence of Miss Trotwood and Miss Wickfield, but-

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Lady Elliot had been an excellent woman, sensible and amiable; whose judgement and conduct, if they might be pardoned the youthful infatuation which made her Lady Elliot, had never required indulgence afterwards.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

After half an hour's free indulgence of grief and reflection, Catherine felt equal to encountering her friends; but whether she should make her distress known to them was another consideration.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)