indulge
To let yourself or someone else enjoy a treat.
indulge in a sentence
- On her birthday, Gran indulged us with ice cream for breakfast.
- On rainy Sundays we indulge in hot chocolate with extra marshmallows piled on top.
Try an 11+ style question
Verbal reasoning papers often ask about a word like this.
Which word is closest in meaning to indulge?
- Arefuse
- Btreat
- Cdeny
- Dforbid
Show the answer
B: treat. The other three mean the opposite of indulge.
Which word is most nearly opposite in meaning to indulge?
- Atreat
- Bdeny
- Cspoil
- Dpamper
Show the answer
B: deny. The other three mean nearly the same as indulge.
Words that mean something similar
treat, spoil, pamper
Words that mean the opposite
deny, refuse, forbid
More words about behaviour & manners
- innocuous: Harmless, and not likely to upset or hurt anyone.
- insolent: Rude in a bold, cheeky way.
- interfere: To get involved in something that is not your business, often making it worse.
- intervene: To step in to stop trouble or help sort something out.
- justice: The fair treatment of people, where right is rewarded and wrong is punished.
- juvenile: To do with young people, or behaving in a childish way.
- lax: Not strict or careful enough.
- leeway: Freedom to do things in your own way or make small mistakes.
More words to explore
Sitting the 11+ in Kent, Medway or Buckinghamshire?
Plain-English guides to each test, from the councils’ own pages: Kent Test · Medway Test · Bucks Secondary Transfer Test