# indulgence

/ˌɪnˈdəɫdʒəns/ (US) · /ɪndˈʌldʒəns/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/indulgence
Updated: 2026-08-27

## Senses

### 2. tolerance or patience

noun · CEFR C1 · Formal

the quality of being patient and kind to someone, even if they are doing something wrong.

For teachers: the quality of being indulgent; leniency or tolerance towards the actions or faults of others.

- The teacher asked for the students' indulgence while she fixed the computer.
- The speaker begged the audience's indulgence for a few extra minutes to conclude his presentation on the complex data sets.

### 4. religious pardon

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical · Formal

in the Catholic Church, a way to reduce the punishment for sins.

For teachers: a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven.

- In the past, people sometimes paid money to the church to receive an indulgence.
- The sale of indulgences was one of the primary grievances cited by Martin Luther during the early stages of the Reformation.

## Examples

- Eating chocolate every day is my favorite indulgence.
- After working sixty hours this week, a full day at the spa felt like a necessary indulgence rather than a luxury.
- The novelist's prose was criticized for its stylistic indulgence, as he often prioritized flowery descriptions over the actual progression of the plot.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.