If you know someone who's totally addicted to luxurious things and all of life's pleasures, call her a sybarite. Unless she's inviting you over for champagne brunches and showering you with gifts — in which case you should keep your mouth shut.
- Pronunciation: / 'sɪbə,raɪt/
- English description: a person addicted to luxury and pleasures of the senses
- Synonyms: voluptuary
- Chinese Translation: 爱奢侈享乐的人(ai4 she1 chi1 xiang3 le4 de ren2)
- Spanish Translation: sibarita
- ORIGIN: Sybarite was first recorded in the 1600s, meaning a “person devoted to pleasure.” The literal translation of this noun is “inhabitant of Sybaris,” which was an ancient Greek town full of citizens who loved nice things. Today, the word still has the same two meanings: it's either a person who could be described as addicted to pleasures and luxury (like a hedonist), or an actual person who lives in Sybaris.
EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
- A sybarite could easily shell out three digits for a soup to nocciole dinner with wine and cocktails.
- Sybarites in need of an escape — and a spectacular pool to float in — should consider a visit to Copenhagen’s Hotel d’Angleterre.
*New word description, story and part of "EXAMPLE SENTENCE" are cited in Vocabulary.com