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
George Meredith
b
: marked by profusion or excess
a lavish feast
a lavish home
lavishly
adverb
lavishness
noun
Synonyms
Examples of lavish in a Sentence
Adjective
a lavish display of flowers
this lavish consumption of our natural resources simply cannot continue
Verb
doting parents lavishing lots of attention on their children
a great actor who lavished his talent in lousy movies
Recent Examples on the WebAbby Montanez, Robb Report, 29 Apr. 2024
According to the allegations, proceeds that should have gone to the federal government instead were used to benefit Falaschi, his water district and a small group of co-conspirators, much of it funneled into exorbitant salaries and lavish fringe benefits.
—Jessica Garrison, Los Angeles Times, 28 Apr. 2024
This was far worse than trading political favors and regulatory benefits for lavish gifts and flattering coverage from moguls.
—Doron Weber, TIME, 27 Apr. 2024
Their wealthy host and owner of the lavish castle met his sudden fate by the blade of a fencing foil.
—Rebecca Angel Baer, Southern Living, 26 Apr. 2024
Now, The Great Gatsby is the latest to throw its boater hat into the ring in a lavish new production that, sadly, values spectacle over substance.
—EW.com, 26 Apr. 2024
Her new target was Russborough House, the lavish County Wicklow, Ireland, home of Sir Alfred Lane Beit and his wife, Lady Clementine Beit.
—Theresa McKinney, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 Apr. 2024
However, the training exercise ran into trouble as the unit passed Wilton Crescent, a lavish, sweeping terrace built in the 1800s in the affluent Belgravia area of London.
—Alexander Smith, NBC News, 24 Apr. 2024
The chain is known for its goblet drinks, decadent sundaes and lavish entrees.
—Jake Allen, The Indianapolis Star, 23 Apr. 2024
Anant Gupta, Washington Post, 29 Mar. 2024
Former president Donald Trump hasn't picked a favorite in the race despite the praise lavished on him by many of the candidates.
—Scott Wartman, The Enquirer, 5 Mar. 2024
In his shareholder letter, Buffett lavishes praise on Occidental Petroleum, of which Berkshire owns a whopping 27.8%.
—Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2024
At 133 minutes, the doc runs long but never dull, given the generosity of attention lavished on almost the entire Powell and Pressburger filmography.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 21 Feb. 2024
Property tax redirect The lack of funds is a direct result of the property tax breaks that Kansas City lavishes on companies and developers that do business there.
—Christine Wen, The Conversation, 15 Feb. 2024
The military operation began days after Russia hosted the Winter Olympics in Sochi, on which Putin had lavished a record $50 billion to showcase Russia as a sporting superpower.
—Tribune News Service, Orange County Register, 14 Feb. 2024
Frankly, the last person who should be preaching about wasting taxpayer money is Dixon, who lavished taxpayer money on her sister, her campaign chair and her boyfriend.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 10 Feb. 2024
Beijing lavished manufacturing subsidies on the Chinese EV sector in a bid to develop a globally-competitive industry.
—Lionel Lim, Fortune Asia, 25 Jan. 2024
Adjective
In addition, the hotel unveiled 12 lavish overwater bungalows for guests who want to step up their stay.
—Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 29 Apr. 2024
According to the allegations, proceeds that should have gone to the federal government instead were used to benefit Falaschi, his water district and a small group of co-conspirators, much of it funneled into exorbitant salaries and lavish fringe benefits.
—Jessica Garrison, Los Angeles Times, 28 Apr. 2024
This was far worse than trading political favors and regulatory benefits for lavish gifts and flattering coverage from moguls.
—Doron Weber, TIME, 27 Apr. 2024
Their wealthy host and owner of the lavish castle met his sudden fate by the blade of a fencing foil.
—Rebecca Angel Baer, Southern Living, 26 Apr. 2024
Now, The Great Gatsby is the latest to throw its boater hat into the ring in a lavish new production that, sadly, values spectacle over substance.
—EW.com, 26 Apr. 2024
Her new target was Russborough House, the lavish County Wicklow, Ireland, home of Sir Alfred Lane Beit and his wife, Lady Clementine Beit.
—Theresa McKinney, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 Apr. 2024
However, the training exercise ran into trouble as the unit passed Wilton Crescent, a lavish, sweeping terrace built in the 1800s in the affluent Belgravia area of London.
—Alexander Smith, NBC News, 24 Apr. 2024
The chain is known for its goblet drinks, decadent sundaes and lavish entrees.
—Jake Allen, The Indianapolis Star, 23 Apr. 2024
Verb
Underscoring how widespread the financing practice had become, the top purchaser of electoral bonds turned out to be a gambling mogul based in Tamil Nadu state who lavished money not on BJP, but on its smaller rivals.
—Anant Gupta, Washington Post, 29 Mar. 2024
Former president Donald Trump hasn't picked a favorite in the race despite the praise lavished on him by many of the candidates.
—Scott Wartman, The Enquirer, 5 Mar. 2024
In his shareholder letter, Buffett lavishes praise on Occidental Petroleum, of which Berkshire owns a whopping 27.8%.
—Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2024
At 133 minutes, the doc runs long but never dull, given the generosity of attention lavished on almost the entire Powell and Pressburger filmography.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 21 Feb. 2024
Property tax redirect The lack of funds is a direct result of the property tax breaks that Kansas City lavishes on companies and developers that do business there.
—Christine Wen, The Conversation, 15 Feb. 2024
The military operation began days after Russia hosted the Winter Olympics in Sochi, on which Putin had lavished a record $50 billion to showcase Russia as a sporting superpower.
—Tribune News Service, Orange County Register, 14 Feb. 2024
Frankly, the last person who should be preaching about wasting taxpayer money is Dixon, who lavished taxpayer money on her sister, her campaign chair and her boyfriend.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 10 Feb. 2024
Beijing lavished manufacturing subsidies on the Chinese EV sector in a bid to develop a globally-competitive industry.
—Lionel Lim, Fortune Asia, 25 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lavish.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near lavish
Cite this Entry
“Lavish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lavish. Accessed 2 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
lavish
1 of 2 adjective
lav·ish
ˈlav-ish 
1
: spending or giving more than is necessary : extravagant
lavish with praise
2
: spent, produced, or given freely
lavish gifts
lavishly
adverb
lavishness
noun
lavish
2 of 2 verb
: to spend or give freely
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