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Glite Dictionary
to treat oneself

to treat oneself

22 4.2
Do something special for yourself as a reward or to relax
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : darse un capricho
  • It was time to treat myself, and I thought, "What about Italian?"
  • Treat yourself to a manicure
  • Treat yourself to dinner
  • Treat yourself to breakfast

It's also enjoying and treating oneself.

Examples

  • I'm trying to decide whether to stay and wait for the phone call or whether I should go out and treat myself to a movie.

    Melinda and Melinda (2004)

  • But first, I think I'll make myself a cup of tea and treat myself to a little peace and quiet.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • Did she feel strong enough to treat herself to an experience?

    Fiction book (1996)

  • I loved going out of town for business because I could treat myself to a real dinner.

    Blog text (28)

  • We were free and we decided to treat ourselves to a really fancy, friendly dinner.

    I Am Not Your Negro (2017)

  • Take a break from healthy eating once in a while and treat yourself to your favorite dessert.

    Blog text (16)

  • After I bought the scrapbook and the writing book, I treated myself to supper at White Castle.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Before leaving town, I treated myself to a piece of pie at a little diner called Mama's.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Every Friday night, I treat myself by taking up a whole booth and ordering the Broccoli Rib Luau.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • After a long week at work, I decided to treat myself to a relaxing day at the spa.

Synonyms

to indulge
vsto treat oneself
68 4.3

To allow yourself to enjoy something pleasant, often more than needed

is done specifically as a personal reward rather than general enjoyment
pampering
vsto treat oneself
4.4

Giving someone very special, comfortable care and attention

is a moderate personal special treat rather than excessive luxury

Antonyms

to deprive
198 3.2

To take something important away from someone or stop them having it

neglect
100 3.5

Not caring for someone or something that needs care

How Indulgent

splurge
  • Informal
8 6.9
to indulge
68 4.3
to treat oneself
22 4.2

Surface Forms

treat oneself infinitive
treated oneself past
treated oneself past participle
treating oneself present participle
treats oneself third person singular

Morphology

treat + oneself

The meaning 'to do something special for oneself as an indulgence or reward' is directly and compositionally derived from 'treat' (to pay for or give a gift) combined with the reflexive 'oneself.' This is a common reflexive pattern found across languages and involves no opaque metaphorical shift, so a B1 learner who knows both words should readily understand it.

Etymology

The phrase treat oneself comes from the simple idea of giving someone a treat, a small gift or sweet, to say 'well done'. So when you treat yourself, you give that 'treat' to your own self as a 'reward', which is why the phrase means to do something special for yourself.