lavish
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English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
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”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
lavish (comparative lavisher or more lavish, superlative lavishest or most lavish)
- Expending or bestowing profusely; profuse; prodigal.
- lavish of money; lavish of praise
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
- The day was cool and snappy for August, and the Rise all green with a lavish nature. Now we plunged into a deep shade with the boughs lacing each other overhead, and crossed dainty, rustic bridges over the cold trout-streams, the boards giving back the clatter of our horses' feet: […] .
- 1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in An Autobiography, part II, London: Collins, →ISBN:
- Mind you, clothes were clothes in those days. There was a great deal of them, lavish both in material and in workmanship.
- Superabundant; excessive.
- lavish spirits
- lavish meal
- c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:
- Let her haue needfull, but not lauish meanes
- (obsolete) Unrestrained, impetuous.
- c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii:
- Thou wilt repent theſe lauiſh words of thine
Synonyms[edit]
- (expending profusely): profuse, prodigal, wasteful, extravagant, exuberant, immoderate, opulent
- See also Thesaurus:prodigal
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
profuse
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excessive
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Verb[edit]
lavish (third-person singular simple present lavishes, present participle lavishing, simple past and past participle lavished)
- (transitive) To give out extremely generously; to squander.
- They lavished money on the dinner.
- (transitive) To give out to (somebody) extremely generously.
- They lavished him with praise.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
to expend or bestow with profusion; to squander
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to give out to (somebody) extremely generously
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Noun[edit]
lavish (uncountable)
Anagrams[edit]
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *lewh₃-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms suffixed with -ish
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ævɪʃ
- Rhymes:English/ævɪʃ/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns