sumptuous

English

WOTD – 14 May 2012, 14 May 2013, 14 May 2014, 14 May 2015

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsʌmptʃuəs/
  • IPA(key): /ˈsʌmpt͡ʃuəs/
  • Audio (Australia):(file)

Adjective

sumptuous (comparative more sumptuous, superlative most sumptuous)

  1. Extremely costly; suggesting great expense.
  2. Magnificent, luxurious, or splendid.
    Synonym: lavish
    sumptuous feast
    sumptuous surroundings
    sumptuous interior
    They dined in a sumptuous banquet hall decorated with gold.
    The fabric has a sumptuous texture.
    • 1764 December 19 (indicated as 1765), Oliver Goldsmith, The Traveller, or A Prospect of Society. A Poem. […], London: […] J[ohn] Newbery, […], →OCLC:
      Though poor the peasant’s hut, his feasts though small,
      He sees his little lot the lot of all;
      Sees no contiguous palace rear its head
      To shame the meanness of his humble shed;
      No costly lord the sumptuous banquet deal
      To make him loathe his vegetable meal;
    • 1832, [Washington Irving], The Alhambra: A Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), Philadelphia, Pa.: [Henry Charles] Carey & [Isaac] Lea, →OCLC:
      I wandered on until I came to a sumptuous palace with a garden adorned with fountains and fishponds, and groves and flowers, and orchards laden with delicious fruit.
    • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 31, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
      It was a sumptuous nature, perhaps, that could not be brought to regard money; a natural generosity and kindness; and possibly a petty vanity that was pleased with praise, even with the praise of waiters and cabmen.
    • 1955 April, R. K. Kirkland, “The Staines Branch, Western Region”, in Railway Magazine, page 227:
      There were some unofficial local rejoicings, but none of the elaborate junketings which marked the birth of earlier railways. The company had little cash to spend on sumptuous cold collations, and the like.
    • 2012 April 21, Jonathan Jurejko, “Newcastle 3-0 Stoke”, in BBC Sport‎[1], archived from the original on 2 January 2016:
      Cabaye pulled all the strings in a dominant home performance and capped a majestic individual display with a sumptuous first-time finish into the far corner for his second goal of the afternoon.
    • 2020, J. K. Rowling [pseudonym; Joanne Rowling], “Chapter 1: King Fred the Fearless”, in The Ickabog, New York City: Scholastic, →ISBN, page 2:
      They urged him to hold fancy parties, elaborate picnics, and sumptuous banquets, because Cornucopia was famous, far beyond its borders, for its food.

Derived terms

Translations

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