conspicuous consumption

American  

noun

1. public enjoyment of possessions that are known to be costly so that one's ability to pay for such things is flaunted.

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conspicuous consumption British  

noun

1. spending in a lavish or ostentatious way, esp to impress others with one's wealth

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conspicuous consumption Cultural  

1. Buying unnecessary and expensive products and services as a way to show off wealth. The term was coined by U.S. economist Thorstein Veblen in The Theory of the Leisure Class.

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Etymology

Origin of conspicuous consumption

Used by Thorstein Veblen in The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899)

Example Sentences

It may be that it was a happy one, and you merely feel a little self-conscious about your relative wealth, or your siblings might make occasional comments on what they see as conspicuous consumption.

From MarketWatch

The Condé Nast glory era really kicked off in the 1980s, as conspicuous consumption swept through the land.

From Los Angeles Times

But it has plenty to pitch concerning the joys and burdens of conspicuous consumption.

From Salon

This is the only way I can explain why I perused each celebrity’s current advice columns for conspicuous consumption and, much to my shock, found some items that in 2023 seem . . . reasonably priced, comparatively speaking.

From Salon

“Luxury” is a word now almost solely associated with objects and conspicuous consumption — a stand-in for “expensive” that ignores the feeling of luxury found in the small micro-luxuries of everyday life.

From Los Angeles Times