lavish
[lav-ish]
- expended, bestowed, or occurring in profusion: lavish spending.
- using or giving in great amounts; prodigal (often followed by of): lavish of his time; lavish of affection.
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- to expend or give in great amounts or without limit: to lavish gifts on a person.
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Origin of lavish
1425–75; late Middle English lavas profusion (noun), profuse (adj.) < Middle French lavasse downpour of rain, derivative of laver to wash < Latin lavāre
Synonyms
See more synonyms for lavish on Thesaurus.com1, 2. unstinted, extravagant, wasteful, improvident; generous, openhanded. 3. heap, pour; waste, squander, dissipate.
Synonym study
1, 2. Lavish, prodigal, profuse refer to that which exists in abundance and is poured out copiously. Lavish suggests (sometimes excessive) generosity and openhandedness: lavish hospitality; much too lavish. Prodigal suggests wastefulness, improvidence, and reckless impatience of restraint: a prodigal extravagance. Profuse emphasizes abundance, but may suggest overemotionalism, exaggeration, or the like: profuse thanks, compliments, apologies.
Antonyms
1, 2. niggardly.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for lavishly
Contemporary Examples
Wedged between two marble buildings at the lavishly designed Lincoln Center, sits a single white tent.
Leather bonnets that marked the early 19th century gave way to styled hair and lavishly veiled hats of the 20th century.
Both are lavishly illustrated, so your child will enjoy reading them with you.
Democrats are coalescing early around a front-runner who certainly will be lavishly funded, Hillary Clinton.
Not a euphemism for homeliness, mind; the new faces are all lavishly hot.
Historical Examples
Indeed, they were sumptuously, lavishly, prodigally provided for.
Sir Henry Morgan, BuccaneerCyrus Townsend Brady
So long as he had it he used it lavishly, thoughtlessly, very often generously.
Sir Brook Fossbrooke, Volume I.Charles James Lever
He changed his meat plate now, and helped him lavishly to tart.
Dreamers of the GhettoI. Zangwill
The English government had lavishly distributed signs of authority.
Old Fort SnellingMarcus L. Hansen
He impairs with one hand the value of what he has so lavishly yielded with the other.
Old-Time Makers of MedicineJames J. Walsh
lavish
- prolific, abundant, or profuse
- generous; unstinting; liberal
- extravagant; prodigal; wastefullavish expenditure
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- (tr) to give, expend, or apply abundantly, generously, or in profusion
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Word Origin
C15: adj use of lavas profusion, from Old French lavasse torrent, from Latin lavāre to wash
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for lavishly
lavish
v.
1540s, from lavish (adj.). Related: Lavished; lavishing.
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lavish
adj.
mid-15c., from Middle French lavasse (n.) "torrent of rain, deluge," from Old French lavache, from laver "to wash," from Latin lavare "to wash" (see lave). Related: Lavishly.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper