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If you abridge a book or play, you make it shorter by making cuts to the original.
Someone who is abstemious avoids doing too much of something enjoyable, such as eating or drinking; rather, they consume in a moderate fashion.
Abstinence is the practice of keeping away from or avoiding something you enjoy—such as the physical pleasures of excessive food and drink—usually for health or religious reasons.
When you are acquisitive, you are driven to pursue and own wealth and possessions—often in a greedy fashion.
Something austere is simple and plain in its style; an austere person is strict and severe with themselves.
Avarice is the extremely strong desire to have a lot of money and possessions.
When you cavort, you jump and dance around in a playful, excited, or physically lively way.
If you covet something that someone else has, you have a strong desire to have it for yourself.
Desiderata are a wish list of things that are considered highly desirable or necessary to have.
Someone who is dour is serious, stubborn, and unfriendly; they can also be gloomy.
Someone who is effusive expresses happiness, pleasure, admiration, praise, etc., in an extremely enthusiastic way.
Someone who is epicurean derives great pleasure in material and sensual things, especially good food and drink.
An exorbitant price or fee is much higher than what it should be or what is considered reasonable.
An extravaganza is an elaborate production or spectacular display that is meant to entertain, often in an excessive fashion.
If someone or something is flamboyant, the former is trying to show off in a way that deliberately attracts attention, and the latter is brightly colored and highly decorated.
Something florid has too much decoration or is too elaborate.
Someone who is frugal spends very little money—and even then only on things that are absolutely necessary.
Hedonism is the belief that pleasure is important, so much so that life should be spent doing only things that one enjoys.
Someone who is indulgent tends to let other people have what they want; someone can be kind to excess when being indulgent.
If something is inordinate, it is much larger in amount or degree than is normally expected.
If someone has an insatiable desire for something, they always want more of it and never feel as though they have enough.
If you are inured to something unpleasant, you have become so used to it that it no longer affects you.
A person who is being laconic uses very few words to say something.
Something luxuriant, such as plants or hair, is growing well and is very healthy.
A monastic lifestyle is very simple—it is not given to excess in any way; rather, it is a lifestyle of self-denial.
An ornate object is heavily or excessively decorated with complicated shapes and patterns.
A palatial structure is grand and impressive, such as a palace or mansion.
A parsimonious person is not willing to give or spend money.
Animals preen when they smooth out their fur or their feathers; humans preen by making themselves beautiful in front of a mirror.
Someone who behaves in a prodigal way spends a lot of money and/or time carelessly and wastefully with no concern for the future.
If you are ravenous, you are extremely hungry.
When someone has restraint, they show self-control or self-discipline, which provides limits to what they do.
A stoic person does not show their emotions and does not complain when bad things happen to them.
A taciturn person is quiet or silent by nature.
A teetotaler is one who does not drink alcohol.
If you truncate something, you make it shorter or quicker by removing or cutting off part of it.
Something that is unadorned is not made more attractive with ornament or decoration.
A feeling that is unbridled is enthusiastic and unlimited in its expression.
Adj.
spartan
SPAHR-tn
Context
In his one-room log cabin in the Oregon woods, Grizzly Jones lived a spartan, simple life. He drew water from the stream, caught fish, and chopped wood in a daily schedule of spartan self-discipline that rarely varied. Grizzly was a man who didn’t believe in owning much; a metal table, a wooden chair, and a cot for his sleeping bag were enough to satisfy his spartan, plain needs in furniture.
Quiz:Try again!
What does spartan describe?
A lifestyle that embraces nature and the outdoors.
A lifestyle that is very solitary.
A lifestyle that is very plain and without luxury.
Spic and SpanArt Her art is so simple, clean, and spic and span--very spartan, one might say.
Examples
Alex Honnold, the subject of _Free Solo_, is a man given to extreme focus, obsessive drive, and a highly spartan lifestyle, meaning he lives out of a van and mostly eats cans of beans warmed on a hot plate.
—
The Atlantic
An extra year means another year funding her own training, as she hasn’t competed at a high enough level recently to benefit from the Canadian Olympic Committee’s targeted financial supports. “But I’ve lived the spartan life a very long time and I can do it for one more year,” she says.
—
Postmedia News
He follows a spartan routine. Six days a week, he gets up at 5 a.m. and starts his day with an apple and 50 chin-ups. He runs 12 to 15 miles a day on a treadmill or on the road.
—
The New York Times
He also avoided gatherings at friends' homes and other group activities, essentially living a spartan existence of schoolwork and leaving the house only for football workouts, practices or games.
—
Chattanooga Times Free Press
The word spartan derives from the citizens of the ancient Greek city-state Sparta, who were known for their rigorous self-discipline and restraint.
Word Theater
Greek Jordan is a bit offended by having her side of the room described as "spartan."
The panel shows a small video clip of either the word in actual use or a scene that represents the meaning of a word. This not only breaks up the monotony of studying words but also provides another avenue to strengthen word meaning. Enjoy!
