Word.ws English Dictionary

intemerate

intemerate adjective: pure, undefiled, chaste.

Adjective

intemerate (comparative more intemerate, superlative most intemerate)

  1. (rare) Pure, undefiled, chaste.
    • The states of the kingdom are bound, with faithful concern, to leave intemerate all the royal prerogatives, after the dictates of the Swedish law, so that they shall be kept in their full vigor and strength ...1792, William Coxe, Travels Into Poland, Russia, Sweden and Denmark
    • The flagrant corruption and prostitution of all that is sacred at Rome, had never spread its taint into his upright, intemerate soul.1846, William Harrison Ainsworth, Ainsworth's Magazine

Examples of intemerate in a sentence

  • You mean to make her your wife ; and the wife of Carberry Ratcliff must be intemerate!1864, Epes Sargent, Peculiar: A Tale of the Great Transition:
  • And hitherto their flesh had been intemerate and inviolable; the strictest orders had been issued that none should dare to slap them, and all were only too prone to coax and pet the beautiful angels.1865, David Masson, George Grove & John Morley, Macmillan's Magazine:

Forms of intemerate

comparativemore intemerate
superlativemost intemerate
alternative form (obsolete, rare)intemerated

Origin of intemerate

First attested in 1492, in Middle English; borrowed from Latin intemerātus, from in- (“not”) + temerātus, perfect passive participle of temerō (“to violate”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from temerē (“by chance, casually, rashly”).

Words formed from intemerate

Questions about intemerate

What does intemerate mean?
Intemerate means pure, undefiled, chaste.
How do you use intemerate in a sentence?
You mean to make her your wife ; and the wife of Carberry Ratcliff must be intemerate!
What part of speech is intemerate?
Intemerate is an adjective.

Words near intemerate in the dictionary

  1. intelligibilities
  2. intelligibility
  3. intelligible
  4. intelligibleness
  5. intelligibly
  6. intemerate
  7. intemerated
  8. intemerateness
  9. intemperament
  10. intemperaments
  11. intemperance

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: intemerate (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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