Xanadu

[zan-uh-doo, -dyoo]

noun

1. a place of great beauty, luxury, and contentment.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Xanadu¹

S.T. Coleridge's modification, in the poem “Kubla Khan” (1797), of Xandu (17th-century spelling), modern Shangdu ( Pinyin: shàng dū), the site of Kublai Khan's summer residence in SE Mongolia

Example Sentences

Just the thrill of success — I saw it as a sort of Xanadu.

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He also was in the campy, roller-disco “Xanadu” in 2007 and “The Royal Family” in 2009.

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You’re dead certain that at some point, someone must have come up with the elevator pitch that this is “Citizen Kane” from the perspective of Xanadu’s interior designer.

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Is “Horizon” the capstone achievement of Costner’s career or his cowboy Xanadu?

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I mention the late director of 1980’s “Heaven’s Gate” because there already is a cowboy Xanadu, one still struggling to graduate beyond its status as a famous Hollywood bomb and film maudit.

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