adjective
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having or indicating wealth
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abundant or plentiful
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of opulent
1595–1605; < Latin opulentus wealthy, equivalent to op- (stem of ops power, wealth) + -ulentus -ulent
Explanation
Opulent is a word that you will hear a lot around rich people looking to show off. "Remember the opulent buffet at Carrie’s sweet sixteen? Sixteen chocolate cakes iced in gold leaf!" If you want to remember that opulent is a word describing lavish displays of wealth, you can think of the word opal to help you remember it — opal being a rare gem. And if you are lucky enough to be able to afford opulence yourself, don’t describe it that way. The word contains connotations of pretentious. And gold leaf cake aside, who wants that?
Vocabulary lists containing opulent
100 Top "SAT" Words
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Grade 10, List 6
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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
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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.
Opulent, gothic, melodramatic and crammed full of hooks, The Last Dinner Party’s album is an antidote to all the quiet, confessional ballads that have populated the charts for the last five years.
From BBC • Jul. 25, 2024
Chinese couture artist Guo Pei teamed up with the Rug Co. on its new Opulent Nature collection of six carpets, including Empress Gold.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 12, 2022
Quirijn Verhoog, one of the creators of Opulent, says he was inspired to make music after coming home from traveling.
From Scientific American • Aug. 26, 2022
Opulent cinemas populated Kinshasa’s most fashionable districts and the city’s residents were devoted to 1960s spaghetti westerns, prompting a fashion craze for Borsalino hats and cowboy boots.
From The Guardian • Nov. 6, 2015
Opulent and zealous, he devoted himself henceforth to preaching the Messiah, living and dying his apostle and prophet—no other in short than the Elijah who was to be the Messiah's harbinger.
From Dreamers of the Ghetto by Zangwill, Israel
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.
