lavish
- 01 C1 Advanced
adj.very expensive, large, or impressive, often involving a lot of money or effort.
adj.characterised by extreme abundance, luxury, or expense; often implies a display of wealth or high quality.
Simple“The hotel guests enjoyed a lavish breakfast with fresh fruit, pastries, and champagne.”
In context“The production was famous for its lavish costumes and intricate set designs, which reportedly cost millions of dollars to produce.”
UsageUsually placed before a noun to describe events, gifts, or lifestyles.
- 02 C1 Advanced
adj.giving or using a large amount of something, especially praise or money.
adj.bestowed in great abundance; marked by profusion or excess in giving.
Simple“The critics were lavish with their praise for the young actor's performance.”
In context“Despite his modest income, he was lavish in his hospitality, always ensuring his guests had the finest food and wine.”
UsageOften followed by the preposition 'with' or 'in'.
- 03 C1 Advanced
v.to give a lot of something, like money, attention, or love, to someone.
v.to bestow something in great quantities upon a recipient. Transitive — requires a direct object and often takes the preposition 'on' or 'upon'.
Simple“The grandparents like to lavish gifts on their grandchildren during the holidays.”
In context“The media continued to lavish attention on the scandal, even after the primary suspects had been cleared of all charges.”
UsageTypically follows the pattern: lavish [something] on [someone].
“Scenes of the school’s lavish celebration of its leader’s birthday are intercut with the students’ ramshackle living quarters.”
“In a lavish press centre funded by the Americans for the previous government, we ask him about the first press conference he gave there, two days after the Taliban took control of the country.”
From Middle English laves, lavas, lavage (“extravagant, wasteful, prodigal”), from lavas (“excessive abundance”), from Old French lavasse, lavache (“torrent of rain”); possibly later conflated in some senses by Middle English laven (“to pour out”), equivalent to lave + -ish. Compare Scots lawage, lavisch, lavish (“unrestrained, excessively prodigal, extravagant”). Compare also English lavy (“lavish, liberal”), Dutch lafenis (“lavishness”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.