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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
Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 20 Feb. 2025
Our palm panoply extends to the ritzy Canary Island date palm, the pygmy date and windmill palms, and a mini-monarchy of queen and king palms, which look a little haphazardly asymmetrical.
—Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2025
Ochoa ended up taking the spot as General Expenses showing much the same roster of artists, and then established the gallery in Centro—far from the other scenes in chic Roma and ritzy Polanco—in 2022.
—Harrison Jacobs, ARTnews.com, 10 Feb. 2025
Not surprising, a chunk of this two-hour session focused on the grandiose Sky Club that capped this 22-story skyscraper – a high-end ballroom and restaurant that attracted local socialites as well as Chicago’s elite because of its sophisticated menu, live music, glitzy decor and ritzy ambiance.
—Denise Crosby, Chicago Tribune, 6 Feb. 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 3 Mar. 2025.
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