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
Phil Hay, New York Times, 20 June 2025
This is a show that could have told us a really lush and sumptuous story of that era that actually took up Twain and Warner’s satirical ideas.
—Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune, 18 June 2025
But sumptuous seafood is far from the only novelty Wilson has introduced.
—Peter Sblendorio, Hartford Courant, 13 June 2025
Here is what the judges had to say: A fragrant embrace of baked sesame pastry and sweet cream cheese greets the senses, leading to a sumptuous palate of toffee, baked apple, and anise, all wrapped in a silky texture.
—Hudson Lindenberger, Forbes.com, 4 June 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Sumptuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sumptuous. Accessed 1 Jul. 2025.
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sumptuous
adjective
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