gluttony
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of gluttony
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English glotonie, glutonie, from Old French glotonie; equivalent to glutton 1 + -y 3
Explanation
Called one of the seven deadly sins, gluttony is characterized by a limitless appetite for food and drink and overindulgence to the point where one is no longer eating just to live, but rather living to eat. Present in Old French and Middle English, the word glutonie derived from the Latin gluttire, "to swallow," which in turn came from gula, the word for "throat." In some cultures, gluttony is considered an indication of the country’s wealth, but in most cases it is simply gross and unacceptable. Nowadays, gluttony is seen as an emotional cry for help, as succinctly put by author Peter De Vries, who said, “Gluttony is an emotional escape, a sign something is eating us.”
Vocabulary lists containing gluttony
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Gluttony is one of Christianity’s seven deadly sins.
From BBC • Oct. 18, 2024
A version of the show — seven 10-minute sketches, each by a different playwright, occasioned by the sins of Gluttony, Pride, Lust, Wrath, Envy, Sloth and Greed, was first produced by Miami New Drama.
From Washington Post • Jul. 1, 2021
Gluttony may be the only thing we can fault them for.
From Slate • Feb. 3, 2020
Gluttony, on the original understanding, wasn't necessarily a matter of eating too much; it was the problem of being excessively interested in food, whatever one's actual intake of it.
From The Guardian • Sep. 28, 2012
For in imitation of it I have written an Ode to Gluttony, of which take two stanzas.
From Boswell's Correspondence with the Honourable Andrew Erskine, and His Journal of a Tour to Corsica by Hill, George Birkbeck Norman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
