lavish

adjective lav·ish \ ˈla-vish \

Updated on: 14 Apr 2018

Definition of lavish

1 : expending or bestowing profusely : prodigal

lavish donors

lavish in giving praise to her employees

2 a : expended or produced in abundance

the lavish attentions of his mother
—George Meredith

b : marked by profusion or excess

a lavish feast

a lavish home

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lavishly

adverb

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lavishness

noun

See lavish defined for English-language learners

See lavish defined for kids

Examples of lavish in a Sentence

a lavish display of flowers
this lavish consumption of our natural resources simply cannot continue

Recent Examples of lavish from the Web

In private conversations, Trump has recounted in detail the lavish welcomes that leaders offered him in Riyadh, Paris and Beijing, suggesting the state pageantry reflected his standing on the global stage.

— kevin liptak, CNN, "Facing Trump: Syria. North Korea. Japan. France. Germany.," 10 Apr. 2018
Poured over all of this is an endless river of movie magic, including lavish crowd scenes that almost burst into song and dance, and vast sets that re-create old New York institutions with heartbreaking detail, from B. Altman’s to the Gaslight.

— caitlin flanagan, The Atlantic, "The Impossible Duality of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," 9 Apr. 2018
Meanwhile, Clear Springs High is in the hunt with two nominations at the 16th annual Tommy Tune Awards, which will be presented in a lavish, Tony Awards-style ceremony April 17 at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts Center in Houston.

— don maines, Houston Chronicle, "Bay Area high schools receive shower of theater honors," 9 Apr. 2018
The nascent middle class is prospering and young families with several children receive lavish tax breaks.

— The Economist, "Hungary’s illiberal prime minister, Viktor Orban, wins a landslide," 9 Apr. 2018
And the rest of us must be missing our invites to hang out at their lavish mansions around the world.

— megan friedman, Country Living, "How Much Money Are Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban Worth?," 8 Apr. 2018
Around then, the Chinese government decided to finance a lavish expansion of the sector.

— keith bradsher, New York Times, "U.S. and China Play Chicken on Trade, and Neither Swerves," 6 Apr. 2018
The largest and most lavish Starbucks in the world opened in November 2017 in Shanghai, China.

— jordan kellogg, Cincinnati.com, "Vote: Does Ohio or Kentucky have the best Starbucks mug?," 6 Apr. 2018
For years, Charlotte businessman Rick Siskey built a a reputation as a savvy adviser to wealthy clients who lived a lavish lifestyle while also giving generously to charity.

— rick rothacker, charlotteobserver, "How one firm's claims could hurt Rick Siskey's Ponzi victims | Charlotte Observer," 6 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'lavish.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of lavish

Middle English laves, lavage, probably from Middle French lavasse, lavache downpour of rain, from laver to wash — more at lavage

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

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lavish Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of lavish

profuse, lavish, prodigal, luxuriant, lush, exuberant mean giving or given out in great abundance. profuse implies pouring forth without restraint.

- profuse apologies

lavish suggests an unstinted or unmeasured profusion.

- a lavish party

prodigal implies reckless or wasteful lavishness threatening to lead to early exhaustion of resources.

- prodigal spending

luxuriant suggests a rich and splendid abundance.

- a luxuriant beard

lush suggests rich, soft luxuriance.

- a lush green lawn

exuberant implies marked vitality or vigor in what produces abundantly.

- an exuberant imagination

lavish

verb

Definition of lavish

transitive verb

: to expend or bestow with profusion : squander

See lavish defined for English-language learners

Examples of lavish in a Sentence

doting parents lavishing lots of attention on their children
a great actor who lavished his talent in lousy movies

Recent Examples of lavish from the Web

While steadily executing the conservative agenda to undo environmental regulations, he’s managed to stay on the president’s good side, lavishing praise and providing him with great photo ops.

— umair irfan, Vox, "Scott Pruitt’s bizarre condo scandal and mounting ethics questions, explained," 5 Apr. 2018
In Spring 2018, Rose will be the first chatbot to serve casino and loyalty customers from the resort’s Identity Rewards program, automatically lavishing extra attention on them.

— tobey grumet segal, Condé Nast Traveler, "How Hotels Are Using Artificial Intelligence to Improve Your Stay," 4 Apr. 2018
On Monday morning, Trump lavished praise on the Sinclair Broadcast Group, the owner of nearly 200 television stations that recently directed anchors to read the message during news broadcasts.

— travis andersen, BostonGlobe.com, "Trump defends Sinclair Broadcasting Group’s ‘false news’ promo," 2 Apr. 2018
Balwani even used his Twitter account for the almost exclusive purpose of promoting and lavishing praise on Holmes and the company.

— rebecca robbins, STAT, "Sign up for our biotech newsletter, The Readout," 19 Mar. 2018
The two leaders, who have bonded over a shared enmity of Iran and a desire to make deals, lavished praise on each other.

— vivian nereim, Bloomberg.com, "Saudi Grand Tour to Include Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, JPMorgan," 21 Mar. 2018
Look at Duke: Krzyzewski is lavished with $19.5 million for basketball.

— tod leonard, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Football schools Auburn, Clemson face off in NCAA second round," 17 Mar. 2018
Google employees gave Hillary Clinton’s campaign a total of $1,559,861 while lavishing $40,813 on fringe Green Party candidate Jill Stein.

— alexander nazaryan, Newsweek, "Is Silicon Valley Silencing Conservatives on Social Media?," 15 Mar. 2018
Trump reportedly told friends at Mar-a-Lago after his tax reform bill lavished depressingly generous presents on the richest Americans while doing virtually nothing for the lower middle class.

— yascha mounk, Slate Magazine, "2018: The Year We Fight Back," 2 Jan. 2018

Origin and Etymology of lavish

see ¹lavish

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1542

See Words from the same year

lavish Synonyms

Synonyms

blow, dissipate, fiddle away, fritter (away), lose, misspend, run through, spend, squander, throw away, trifle (away), waste;

Antonyms

conserve;

Near Antonyms

economize, scrimp, skimp;

preserve, protect, save;

hoard, lay up;

Related Words

splurge;

consume, deplete, exhaust, impoverish, overspend, shoot;

indulge, overindulge;

disburse, expend, lay out;

Phrases

play ducks and drakes with (or make ducks and drakes of);

LAVISH Defined for English Language Learners

lavish

adjective

Definition of lavish for English Language Learners

: giving or using a large amount of something
: given in large amounts
: having a very rich and expensive quality

LAVISH Defined for Kids

lavish

adjective lav·ish \ ˈla-vish \

Definition of lavish for Students

1 : giving or involving a large amount : extravagant

The lobby contained a lavish display of flowers.

2 : spent, produced, or given in large amounts

She received lavish praise.

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lavishly

adverb

History for lavish

Lavish comes from an older English noun lavish that meant “plenty.” This noun probably came from a medieval French word lavasse, “a heavy rain.” This French word is derived from a verb laver, “to wash,” which goes back to Latin lavare. Other English words that ultimately trace back to lavare are lavatory and laundry.