indulge

Synonym Chooser

How does the verb indulge contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of indulge are baby, humor, mollycoddle, pamper, and spoil. While all these words mean "to show undue favor to a person's desires and feelings," indulge implies excessive compliance and weakness in gratifying another's or one's own desires.

indulged myself with food at the slightest excuse

Where would baby be a reasonable alternative to indulge?

While in some cases nearly identical to indulge, baby suggests excessive care, attention, or solicitude.

babying students by grading too easily

When could humor be used to replace indulge?

The words humor and indulge can be used in similar contexts, but humor stresses a yielding to a person's moods or whims.

humored him by letting him tell the story

When would mollycoddle be a good substitute for indulge?

While the synonyms mollycoddle and indulge are close in meaning, mollycoddle suggests an excessive degree of care and attention to another's health or welfare.

refused to mollycoddle her malingering son

When is it sensible to use pamper instead of indulge?

The words pamper and indulge are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, pamper implies inordinate gratification of desire for luxury and comfort with consequent enervating effect.

pampered by the amenities of modern living

When can spoil be used instead of indulge?

In some situations, the words spoil and indulge are roughly equivalent. However, spoil stresses the injurious effects on character by indulging or pampering.

foolish parents spoil their children

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of indulge Some adults want their children to develop AI literacy; others see chatbots as a way to indulge young kids’ endless curiosities or engage their creativity. Lila Shroff, The Atlantic, 14 July 2025 Trump previously appeared to indulge an antisemitic trope of Jewish people controlling things behind the scenes. Rebecca Schneid, Time, 5 July 2025 There is one activity in which many inhabitants of that land freely indulge. Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 30 June 2025 Baker, 37, indulged them, starting out of her Fairfax, Calif., living room a finance club that eventually became her present-day financial education startup, Dow Janes — which boasts an Instagram following of nearly half a million. Malia Mendez, Los Angeles Times, 29 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for indulge
Recent Examples of Synonyms for indulge
Verb
  • And here’s the story, courtesy of a nudge from Snell, who by sheer serendipity soon after that initial email was offered two seats immediately behind the delightful source of a noise that gratifies some and grates others.
    Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 2 July 2025
  • The Baseball Hall of Fame award recipient and Dodger ambassador called himself a proud immigrant, saying he was gratified that the team pledged to donate $1 million for immigrant families impacted by raids.
    Helen Jeong, NBC news, 25 June 2025
Verb
  • Warren then surrendered Ozzie Albies’ second three-run homer in as many days in the fourth.
    Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 20 July 2025
  • Faced with no other option, the heartbroken family surrendered Draco to the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control (DACC), despite having loved and raised him for over five years.
    Tereza Shkurtaj, People.com, 20 July 2025
Verb
  • Dodge won't spoil the surprise by confirming if the last one will be based on the Charger or the Challenger (or maybe both), but the evidence suggests the latter is more likely.
    Jack Fitzgerald, Car and Driver, 13 Feb. 2023
  • Farmers’ broiler chickens suffocate, and dairy products spoil.
    Monica Mark, The Christian Science Monitor, 10 Feb. 2023
Verb
  • Too eager to please and be manipulated, essentially.
    Hadas Gold, CNN Money, 15 July 2025
  • The models keep getting bigger, the marketing keeps promising more, but a fundamental mismatch remains: a system trained to please can't deliver the reality check that therapy sometimes demands.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 11 July 2025
Verb
  • That doesn't mean abandoning your message, just finding the right entry point for your audience in that moment.
    Rachel Weissman, Forbes.com, 15 July 2025
  • Nothing in the proposal Trump announced on Monday is likely to force Putin to abandon that objective.
    Simon Shuster, Time, 15 July 2025
Verb
  • Yachts have several stewards whose primary duty is to pamper, one chef cooking for a small group, the ability to select menus ahead of time, and the freedom to choose destinations.
    Michael Verdon, Robb Report, 13 July 2025
  • Many pet owners love to pamper and praise their animal companions, and there are small business owners who are quick to oblige.
    Erin Federigan, Mercury News, 2 July 2025
Verb
  • Insiders say DiCaprio worked the room like a pro — posing for selfies and humoring FaceTime calls from starstruck daughters.
    Richard Johnson, New York Daily News, 29 June 2025
  • Who else will stage Chris Fleming’s plays, or humor Pete Holmes’s dad jokes, or let Lauren Cook call in a bit?
    Bethy Squires, Vulture, 13 June 2025
Verb
  • Chickpea Cookie Dough Chickpea cookie dough is high in protein and sure to satisfy a craving for sweetness.
    Lauren Panoff, Verywell Health, 15 July 2025
  • To satisfy presidential demands, field offices are directed to meet new daily arrest quotas—75 arrests per office—raising agency-wide targets to 1,200–1,500 arrests per day, up from only about a few hundred.
    Juwayriah Wright, Time, 15 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Indulge.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/indulge. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.

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