lavish
Americanadjective
-
expended, bestowed, or occurring in profusion.
lavish spending.
- Synonyms:
- wild, unrestrained, wasteful, unreasonable, thriftless, intemperate, improvident, immoderate, extravagant, excessive
-
using or giving in great amounts; prodigal (often followed byof ).
lavish of his time;
lavish of affection.
- Synonyms:
- unsparing, openhanded, munificent, liberal, free, effusive, bountiful, generous
- Antonyms:
- tight-fisted, tight, stingy, parsimonious, miserly, cheap
verb (used with object)
adjective
-
prolific, abundant, or profuse
-
generous; unstinting; liberal
-
extravagant; prodigal; wasteful
lavish expenditure
verb
Related Words
Lavish, prodigal, profuse refer to that which exists in abundance and is poured out copiously. Lavish suggests (sometimes excessive) generosity and openhandedness: lavish hospitality; much too lavish. Prodigal suggests wastefulness, improvidence, and reckless impatience of restraint: a prodigal extravagance. Profuse emphasizes abundance, but may suggest overemotionalism, exaggeration, or the like: profuse thanks, compliments, apologies.
Other Word Forms
- lavisher noun
- lavishly adverb
- lavishment noun
- lavishness noun
- overlavish adjective
- overlavishness noun
- unlavish adjective
- unlavished adjective
Etymology
Origin of lavish
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English lavas “profusion” (noun), “profuse” (adjective), from Middle French lavasse, lavache “downpour of rain,” derivative of laver “to wash,” from Latin lavāre
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Nor could he predict the devotion fans would lavish on the show and its characters.
From BBC
It had, clearly, once been lavished with time, and attention, and hope.
From Literature
Pyongyang has also moved to revive inbound tourism to earn much-needed hard cash, developing lavish coastal and mountain resorts.
From Barron's
In October, China announced lavish subsidies to make the stuff.
The impoverished North has moved to revive inbound tourism to earn much-needed hard cash in the face of sanctions over its nuclear programmes, developing lavish coast and mountain resorts.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
