Word of the Day

: June 20, 2011

ritzy

adjective RIT-see

What It Means

1 : being, characteristic of, or befitting a snob : snobbish

2 : impressively or ostentatiously fancy or stylish : fashionable, posh

ritzy in Context

"That was how Martin saw himself -- as an outsider, a little guy, who was either being dragged back to his lowly roots or scorned by the 'ritzy' people." -- From Richard Bradley’s 2008 book The Greatest Game

"They gathered at the ritzy Palms Place Hotel and Spa on West Flamingo Road in Las Vegas to lounge and swim." -- From an article by Michael McGuire posted June 6, 2011 at examiner.com

Did You Know?

César Ritz (1850-1918) earned worldwide renown for the luxurious hotels bearing his name opened 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 1920.