sumptuous
adjective
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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
Chris Wiley, New Yorker, 20 Dec. 2025
For the Janeite in your life, there can be no greater gift than the Folio Society’s sumptuous, 250th-anniversary-edition collection of Jane Austen’s six novels.
—Air Mail, 13 Dec. 2025
Ironically, the hotel is sumptuous, a departure from Van der Rohe’s pared-back aesthetic, but the architect’s style is evident in the lavish use of materials like travertine and marble, and the trademark steel-and-glass framework, which is visible from every vantage point.
—Amy Tara Koch, Robb Report, 11 Dec. 2025
An otherwise simple composition sings to life with a few lively border treatments and a sumptuous palette.
—Emily Temple, Literary Hub, 11 Dec. 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 25 Dec. 2025.
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sumptuous
adjective
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