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César Ritz (1850-1918) earned worldwide renown for the luxurious hotels bearing his name in London and Paris. (The Ritz-Carlton hotel company is a contemporary descendant of these enterprises.) Although they were by no means the first to cater to high-end clients, Ritz’s hotels quickly earned reputations as symbols of opulence. F. Scott Fitzgerald, a writer who often focused on the fashionably wealthy, titled one of his short stories “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz,” and the phrase “to put on the ritz” means “to indulge in ostentatious display.” The adjective ritzy, describing either something fancy or stylish, or the haughty attitudes of the wealthy elite, first checked into the English language in 1919.
Examples of ritzy in a Sentence
Riley Jones, Footwear News, 22 Nov. 2025
The Centennial State is the best place to experience a ritzy winter wonderland.
—Lydia Price, Travel + Leisure, 10 Nov. 2025
The Florida home is modest when compared to the Ceballos’ four-story mansion in the ritzy Alto Hatillo neighborhood of Caracas.
—Antonio Maria Delgado, Miami Herald, 7 Nov. 2025
While the destination for paranormal tourism can often take place in centuries-old buildings, like Wiseman’s trip to Rhodes Hall in Atlanta, a number of ritzy hotels also make the list.
—Colson Thayer, PEOPLE, 30 Oct. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Ritzy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ritzy. Accessed 26 Nov. 2025.
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