Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Of, relating to, or practicing complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages.
- adj. Total; absolute.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Total; complete; entire: used emphatically.
- Of, pertaining to, or for the promotion of total abstinence from intoxicating liquors: as, a teetotal society, meeting, or pledge; the teetotal cause.
- Pledged to total abstinence from intoxicating liquors.
Wiktionary
- adj. Abstinent from alcohol, never drinking alcohol.
- adj. Opposed to the drinking of alcohol.
- adj. Total.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. colloq. Entire; total.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. practicing complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages
- v. practice teetotalism and abstain from the consumption of alcoholic beverages
Etymologies
- 1830s, from total, the reduplicated tee being an intensifier – “T-total”. (Wiktionary)
- Probably partly tee1 (pronunciation of the first letter in total) + total (abstinence), and partly reduplication of total. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“He was an habitual drunkard, his greatest boast being that he had once been "teetotal" for”
“In was not until 1832 that at Preston under the advocacy of Joseph Livesay total abstainers first appeared, and the word "teetotal", applied to abstinence, came into general use.”
“Warpington, eleven according to the Loftus Arms, from which it issued, the owner of which was not on happy terms with his "teetotal" vicar.”
“The attempt to combine the friends of temperance on a basis of "teetotal" abstinence, putting fermented as well as distilled liquors under the ban, dates from as late as 1836.”
“Livesey started a popular temperance movement, attracting followers including John Turner, who coined the phrase "teetotal".”
Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph
“The worms, as video footage shows, also became overactive in alcohol withdrawal and showed spontaneous and deep body bends - a behaviour rarely seen in 'teetotal' worms.”
Gaea Times (by Simple Thoughts) Breaking News and incisive views 24/7
“Remember – the teetotal and the pregnant can be utilised as booze mules.”
“Harrington is famously teetotal, never having let a drop of alcohol cross his lips, so it can assumed he was speaking from the heart.”
The Guardian: US Open 2011: Remarkable Rory McIlroy wins by eight shots
“If Hazare himself has studiously avoided any political statements, his vision of an India of teetotal, vegetarian rural communities is, despite its roots in Gandhi's vision of rural-based development, a conservative one that appeals to India's right wing.”
The Guardian: Anna Hazare: the divisive face of a new India | profile
“Making sure you have a teetotal driver, head south out of town on a country road called De Dekt before swinging right on the Dikkemeerweg, a tiny, cobbled lane that dips through forests and lush meadows grazed by Belgian blue cattle.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘teetotal’.
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February 2012
filiopietistic, bifurcate, enclave, wedlock, decadent, unduly, defunct, lapel, tumescent, capitulation, leaden, scintilla and 83 more...
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GRE Words
orotund, mendacious, inimical, foment, contumacious, abrogate, arrogate, syncretism, abate, abdication, aberration, abeyance and 123 more...
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GRE Words
abjure, unswear, state, rescission, indemnification, ab, reny, abnegate, vitiated, vitiate, adumbrated, abash and 378 more...
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anotherfailedattempt's Words
kakistocracy, conflagration, pollyanna, equanimity, punctillious, obstreperous, ribald, belligerent, truculent, verbose, lachrymose, onanism and 278 more...
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kewpid's Words
moleskine, araldite, dessicate, cellar door, grotesque, fallacy, vendetta, raindrop, panacea, ethereal, hircus, treppenwitz and 446 more...
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verbs
deprecate, behold, bemoan, circumscribe, circumspect, pivot, discombobulate, rummage, chasten, chastise, undulate, snog and 122 more...
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oneasterism's words
Words that I like, that I don't use often enough, that are new to me, that friends and family have taught me, and so on.
lugubrious, reticent, eschelon, missive, penchant, copious, conspicuous, tranquil, redolent, asinine, inane, dilatory and 625 more...
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Adjectival Arcana
A roster of adjectives that infrequently surface in typical conversation and writing. Many are dredged from scientific or other technical jargon or sieved from examples of disused archaic forms.
unitegmic, acaulescent, reticuloendothelial, ingressive, uniate, acanthopterygian, ossific, epiphysial, perivisceral, acœlomatous, cestoid, acælomate and 7756 more...
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Words learned from J.
sartorial, redolent, effigy, teetotal, pedantic, reconcile, confusticate, aegis, abeyance, castigate, parsimonious, sophistry and 8 more...
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Known
stethoscope, triage, yule, vanity, bonehead, folly, petty, perpendicular, burnish, citrus, intrepid, waft and 52 more...
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St. Trinian's (2007)
Words from a 2007 'St. Trinian's' film.
wreath, lully, insufferable, pikey, ugly betty, posh totty, nitwit, dosser, concoction, teetotal, blight, namby-pamby and 21 more...
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To verify definition
Words I've looked up to make sure I knew the correct definition.
megrim, noisome, somnolence, parabola, prehensile, slattern, apropos, panacea, teetotal, collegial, prie dieu, inexorably and 14 more...
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2009: new words
words I've discovered & looked up in 2009
polysemy, interpellative, envisage, pithy, troubadour, vexillology, lumen, maceration, disputatious, epicurean, comport, mystagogue and 10 more...
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Encyclopædia Lagomorphica
Wordies help Prolagus understand some English words and idioms.
homeland, apparent, cookie vs biscuit, nullipara, c-o vs care of vs..., rear, quite, advisor, prof., streetlamp, jank, garret and 18 more...
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toddandrew's list
words i like
quixotic, inextricably, filial, quintessential, incongruous, fecundity, assuage, grandiloquent, penultimate, quiddity, poignant, teetotal and 1 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for teetotal.
Prolagus I have never heard this word in a conversation, except from non-native speakers. Dec 8, 2010