Immoderation

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Lack of restraint or excess in behavior, eating, drinking, or spending that exceeds reasonable or proper limits
2. Absence of restraint or balance that leads to excessive indulgence beyond what is considered prudent or appropriate
3. Failure to exercise reasonable limits on consumption, behavior, or desire resulting in unrestrained excess

Etymology: "Immoderation" is built from the prefix "im-" added to "moderation," and the components are straightforward. The prefix "im-" is the form of "in-" used before words beginning with "m," and it signals negation, so the noun names the absence of moderation: a lack of restraint in eating, drinking, behavior, or desire. "Moderation" itself comes from the Latin "moderatio," a noun from "moderari," meaning to keep within bounds or to regulate. English took the base word first, and the negated form followed by adding the prefix to it. Because the word is a plain prefix-plus-noun formation, its history is transparent: each part still carries its original sense, and the whole simply reverses it.

Synonyms: excess, intemperance, overindulgence, profligacy, extravagance

Antonyms: moderation, temperance, self-restraint, abstinence, control