over-indulge

A parent over-indulges their child with too many sweets.

Definition

1. Verb:
   • To allow oneself or someone else to have too much of something enjoyable, especially food or drink: "over-indulge" means to excessively gratify a desire or appetite, often leading to negative consequences.
   • To treat someone with excessive leniency or generosity: "over-indulge" can also refer to giving someone too much freedom, attention, or material goods.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • He tends to over-indulge in chocolate during the holidays. (He eats too much chocolate.)
  • Parents should avoid over-indulging their children with expensive gifts. (Parents should not give too many gifts.)
  • She over-indulged at the party and felt sick afterward. (She drank or ate excessively.)

Advanced Usage

• "to over-indulge oneself": to give oneself an excessive amount of pleasure or luxury.

  • After working hard all week, he allowed himself to over-indulge in a long spa weekend. (He treated himself to too much relaxation.)

• "over-indulgent" (adjective form): characterized by excessive leniency or gratification.

  • The over-indulgent teacher let the students skip homework every day. (The teacher was too permissive.)

Variants and Related Words

• Over-indulgence (noun): the act or state of indulging excessively.

  • Her over-indulgence in sweets led to health problems. (Her excessive consumption caused issues.)

• Over-indulgent (adj): tending to give too much freedom or pleasure.

  • The over-indulgent grandmother bought her grandchildren everything they asked for. (She was too generous.)

Synonyms

• Binge: to engage in an excessive amount of an activity, especially eating or drinking.
• Gorge: to eat greedily to the point of fullness or discomfort.
• Pamper: to treat with excessive care and attention.

Phrasal Verbs

• Over-indulge in: to take too much of a particular thing.
  • It’s easy to over-indulge in social media during a boring lecture. (To use it too much.)

Related Idioms

• Make a pig of oneself: to eat or drink too much.

  • He made a pig of himself at the buffet and felt ill. (He over-indulged in food.)

• Live it up: to enjoy oneself extravagantly, often with excess.

  • They decided to live it up on their vacation and over-indulged in fine dining. (They enjoyed too much luxury.)