sumptuous
adjective
Did you know?
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens may be a few of your favorite things, but are they sumptuous? Alas, though the best things in life are often free, sumptuous is a child of the Latin word sumptus, meaning “expense,” and it typically describes things that can only be had at some significant expense. A sumptuous lifestyle, for example, is more likely to involve silver-white bling than a silver-white winter that melts into spring. Sumptus has another English relation, this one tied even more closely to conspicuous consumption: sumptuary laws are largely historical regulations limiting extravagant expenditures and habits, especially on moral or religious grounds. (The sump in consumption is coincidental; that word comes from consume, which has its roots in Latin sumere meaning “to take up, take.”)
Examples of sumptuous in a Sentence
Shauna Lyon, New Yorker, 15 Aug. 2025
While preservationists, historians, and the American Institute of Architects have scrutinized the appropriateness of this forthcoming East Ballroom and its sumptuous design, the style itself has its own political connotations.
—Elizabeth Fazzare, Architectural Digest, 14 Aug. 2025
Visually, Billeter said that the secret is letting a lot of the more sumptuous moments play out on wider lenses, giving compositions space and time to be fully absorbed by the audience.
—Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 12 Aug. 2025
What is fresh for fall, though, is taking some of the year’s biggest trends and giving them a sumptuous, autumnal twist.
—Sophia Panych, Allure, 8 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sumptuous
Cite this Entry
“Sumptuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sumptuous. Accessed 26 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
sumptuous
adjective
Share