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sumptuous

UK/ˈsʌmptʃuəs/US/ˈsʌmpt͡ʃuəs/
adjectiveC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #11,912 of 15,258neutral

Sumptuous means splendid and expensive-looking. A sumptuous meal, sumptuous fabrics, sumptuous surroundings.

It is about visible cost rather than quality, which is why it suits interiors and banquets. The Latin behind it means expensive, and the related sumptuary laws once limited what each class was allowed to spend and wear.

Definitions of sumptuous

  1. 1adjectivesumptuousSplendid and expensive-looking.C1

    “The wedding guests enjoyed a sumptuous feast in the castle's great hall.”

sumptuous is a quality.

Where it comes from

Latin sumptuosus means costly, from sumptus, expense, from sumere, to take up or spend.

  1. Latin

    sumptuōsus

  2. Middle French

    sumptueux

  3. English, today

    sumptuous

Built from

  • sūmptus · Latin — cost, charge, expense

From Middle French sumptueux, from Latin sumptuōsus, from sūmptus (“cost, charge, expense”), from sumō + -tus.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

sumptuous in the wild

  • The Manueline, occasionally known as Portuguese late Gothic, is the sumptuous, composite Portuguese architectural style originating in the 16th century, during the Portuguese Renaissance and Age of Discoveries.

    Manueline

  • Depicted in sumptuous clothes and jewellery, with her left hand Mary holds a carnation (red, suggesting blood and the Passion).

    Madonna of the Carnation

  • Kick painted still lifes of flower and fruit and sumptuous still lifes.

    Cornelis Kick

  • The sumptuous landscape of the region, amid scenic hills dressed in vineyards, orchards and forests gives the area an overwhelming beauty.

    Bardar

  • The scene is marked by ambient light, sumptuous objects and rich colours.

    Joan of Arc at the Coronation of Charles VII

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the sūmptus family

presumptuouspresumptionsumptuous

sumptuous — used about once every 10,786 pages · #11,912 · point at the bar for the others