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
Carol Besler, Robb Report, 3 Oct. 2025
Joining Francis Ford Coppola's sumptuous Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) is John Badham's Dracula, a decidedly romantic riff on the Transylvanian vampire's macabre tale.
—Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 2 Oct. 2025
Larry List has written Permanent Attraction—the first book devoted to this facet of Ray’s career, and the volume is both learned and sumptuous.
—Air Mail, 27 Sep. 2025
The Palace in Madrid and the Waldorf Astoria on Park Ave are just a couple five-star stays where you’ll be enveloped in the brand’s high thread count sheets and sumptuous robes.
—Audrey Lee, Architectural Digest, 26 Sep. 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 8 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
sumptuous
adjective
Share