Luxury Once Meant Excess and Vice
Luxury is comfort beyond necessity. The word carried strong moral disapproval for most of its history.
Luxury is a state of great comfort beyond what is necessary. The word was once an accusation: Latin *luxuria* meant excess, extravagance and self-indulgence, and in medieval English it named a deadly sin, specifically lust. The shift from moral failing to marketing category is one of the more complete reversals in the language.
- Comfort beyond necessity. *A life of luxury.*
- Something inessential and pleasant. *A small luxury.*
- Luxurious — richly comfortable. *A luxurious hotel.*
- Luxuriant — growing abundantly. *Luxuriant foliage.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | luxury | Sheer luxury. |
| Plural | luxuries | Small luxuries. |
| Adjective | luxurious | A luxurious car. |
| Adjective | luxuriant | Luxuriant growth. |
| Verb | luxuriate | Luxuriate in it. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Luxurious describes comfort.Luxuriant describes growth.
- Time is the greatest luxury.Figurative.
- Luxuria was a deadly sin.Meaning lust, not comfort.
Luxurious and luxuriant
- Luxurious — richly comfortable and expensive
- Luxuriant — growing thickly and abundantly
- Luxuriate — to take great pleasure in
- Luxury goods — those whose demand rises faster than income
- Common error — luxuriant hair means thick, not expensive
From Old French *luxurie*, from Latin *luxuria*, excess or rankness, from *luxus*, extravagance.
Luxurious or luxuriant?
Luxurious means comfortable and expensive. Luxuriant means growing abundantly, as of hair or vegetation.
Did luxury really mean lust?
In medieval English it did. The Latin *luxuria* covered excess of all kinds, and the sexual sense was prominent.