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• Sybarite
  Sybarite

  noun

  a person devoted to luxury and pleasure.
• sybarite
  sybarite

  noun

  a native or inhabitant of the ancient Greek colony of Sybaris

Sybarite

American  

[sib-uh-rahyt] / ˈsɪb əˌraɪt /

noun

1. (usually lowercase) a person devoted to luxury and pleasure.

   Synonyms:

   sensualist

2. an inhabitant of Sybaris.

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sybarite ¹ British  

/ ˈsɪbəˌraɪt /

noun

1. a native or inhabitant of the ancient Greek colony of Sybaris

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sybarite ² British  

/ ˈsɪbəˌraɪt, ˌsɪbəˈrɪtɪk /

noun

1. (sometimes capital) a devotee of luxury and the sensual vices

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adjective

1. luxurious; sensuous

Other Word Forms

• sybaritism
  noun
• sybaritic
  adjective
• sybaritically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of Sybarite

1590–1600; < Latin Sybarīta < Greek Sybarī́tēs. See Sybaris, -ite ¹

Explanation

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. 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 Sentences

See Examples For:

Sybarite sybarite

The Maranello flagship, for example, was overhauled by London’s Sybarite studio and given an undulating facade of red glass and white brick walls.

From New York Times ● Jun. 16, 2021

There is also Sybarite, described yesterday as "my next possible Imperial Commander" in the Albert Bartlett.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 1, 2011

Brennan, who had made his disappointment clear after partnering the horse in a less-impressive workout at Warwick 12 days earlier, declared himself far more satisfied after a spin around the circuit with stablemate Sybarite.

From The Guardian ● Feb. 26, 2011

To amuse themselves, according to legend, the superb Sybarite cavalrymen trained their horses to dance to pipe music.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Sailor listened with a kind of fascinated intensity; also he watched all that the Sybarite did with a sense of esthetic delight.

From The Sailor by J. C. Snaith

It’s difficult to imagine a worse addition to this oil-and-water mix of high-minded nonconformist cranks and hard-toiling middle-class settlers than a capitalist sybarite.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2025

While I’d want copies of the Bible, Plato, Dante, Shakespeare and Proust — the biggies of western literature — I’m too much of a sybarite to restrict myself to classics.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 11, 2022

At once confessional and curatorial, the book portrays Oswalt as not just a celluloid sybarite, but someone dead serious about the art.

From Slate ● Jan. 5, 2015

Thus began a dual career as political agitator and upper-crust sybarite.

From New York Times ● Dec. 16, 2011

Sir Powers Fiske, though far from being a sybarite, possessed a fundamental but crudely developed love of the beautiful.

From To Win the Love He Sought The Great Awakening: Volume 3 by E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim