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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
Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 29 June 2025
Lucky’s Steakhouse will open its fourth location at the end of June, expanding its presence beyond Montecito, Malibu, and Soho to yet another ritzy locale: East Hampton.
—Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner, Forbes.com, 27 June 2025
The ritzy auction venue, with curiously empty rooms and halls, certainly gave that impression.
—Emma Bowman, NPR, 23 June 2025
The human remains found in a ritzy Rhode Island beach town near pop icon Taylor Swift's mansion have been identified as police close the investigation.
—Stepheny Price , Peter D'abrosca, FOXNews.com, 17 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for ritzy
Cite this Entry
“Ritzy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ritzy. Accessed 7 Jul. 2025.
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