luxury
/ˈlʌkʃ(ə)ri
/noun (plural luxuries) [mass noun]
1A state of great comfort or elegance, especially when involving great expense: he lived a life of luxury...
- The atmosphere throughout is one of understated elegance and the highest standards of comfort and luxury.
- For a start it seats 14 more than the previous plane, and offers a better level of comfort and luxury.
- It enabled her to keep her family in comfort and enough luxury to feel a part of the American dream.
Synonyms
opulence, luxuriousness, sumptuousness, richness, costliness, grandeur, grandness, splendour, magnificence, lavishness, lap of luxury, bed of roses, milk and honey;
comfort, security;
affluence, wealth, prosperity, prosperousness, plenty
informal the life of Riley
1.1 [count noun] An inessential, desirable item which is expensive or difficult to obtain: luxuries like chocolate, scent, and fizzy wine...
- Some special editions featured such luxuries as mats and a CD player.
- She put televisions and kettles in every cell, not as luxuries but because she considered them to be basics of life.
- Branch networks are moribund expensive luxuries, yet customers like branches.
Synonyms
indulgence, extravagance, self-indulgence, treat, extra, non-essential, frill;
refinement
1.2 [in singular] A pleasure obtained only rarely: they actually had the luxury of a whole day together...
- Her mother was chopping meat, which they rarely had the luxury of having, and putting it into a wooden bowl.
- He can afford himself the luxury of indulging fantasies about the future.
- I did however treat myself to the luxury of some powdered milk and it has revolutionised my evening cup of tea.
Synonyms
joy, delight, bliss, blessing, benefit, advantage, boon;
satisfaction, comfort, ease
adjective [attributive]
Luxurious or of the nature of a luxury: a luxury yacht luxury goods...
- The Sheraton Perdana is the nearest luxury hotel to the yacht club.
- I do not believe that the real life of this nation is to be found in the great luxury hotels or so-called fashionable suburbs.
- Explore nature up close and in style aboard luxury yachts, small ships and wilderness lodges.
Origin
Middle English (denoting lechery): from Old French luxurie, luxure, from Latin luxuria, from luxus 'excess'. The earliest current sense dates from the mid 17th century.
From the Middle Ages to the early 19th century luxury was ‘lust, lasciviousness’—the Latin source luxuria also implied indulgence as a vice— although the modern English sense ‘great comfort or elegance’ has also appeared in the mid 17th century.