ritzy
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ritzy
An Americanism first recorded in 1915–20, after the Ritz hotels founded by César Ritz (died 1918), Swiss entrepreneur; see ritz, -y 1
Explanation
Something ritzy is expensive and fancy, like a ritzy living room decorated with heavy brocade curtains and plush velvet cushions. If you're ever invited to a ritzy party, you'll want to dress up in your most luxurious clothes and prepare to enjoy delicious food and opulent decor. The informal adjective ritzy implies luxury that's a little over the top. It was coined around 1910, inspired by the famously elegant Ritz Hotels (™) that César Ritz opened starting internationally in the late 19th century.
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.
See Examples For:
The public had also bid $15,000 on the olive-green painted wood front gates to the only home Monroe ever owned in the ritzy Brentwood neighbourhood.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
He is accused of starting a fire on New Year's Eve 2025 in the mountains overlooking the ritzy neighborhood.
From Barron's ● May 4, 2026
The Hilton, in a ritzy Washington neighborhood, has long hosted the White House correspondents’ dinner.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2026
JPMorgan Chase’s board of directors gathered late last year at Morgan’s, an English pub on the 13th floor of the bank’s ritzy new skyscraper.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2026
We don’t go to ritzy places like this very often, so I order prosciutto-wrapped mozzarella as my appetizer, simply because I like the sound of the words.
From "Blended" by Sharon M. Draper
Today in the historic district on Vancouver Harbor, next to the ritzier business, hotel and shopping area, rows of retail buildings and convenience stores are boarded up, covered in graffiti with cheap hotel rooms overhead.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 10, 2023
One of the ritzier camps, Midway employs a staff of cooks and personal valets and boasts an extensive wine cellar.
From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2023
The Western diplomat estimates that the proportion of women refusing to publicly wear the hijab in the ritzier neighbourhoods of north Tehran is even higher than 20%.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2023
These pink grapefruit bars are a ritzier take on lemon squares.
From New York Times ● Apr. 18, 2023
Cordelia’s family moves to a different, larger house, in a ritzier neighborhood farther north.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
Fraisse put it to me, pointing to two of the capital’s ritziest addresses.
From Slate ● Mar. 30, 2023
And then of course there’s Moraga Bel Air vineyards and winery in the city limits of L.A., about 14 acres of some of the richest and ritziest real estate around, half of which grows grapes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2022
The Galleria, in the heart of Fletcher’s district, is one of the largest and ritziest malls in the United States.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 2, 2020
The startup even planned a grand showcase in late August at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, one of the ritziest car shows in the world.
From The Verge ● Dec. 31, 2018
One of my black classmates, a nerdy boy who was always kind to everyone, had parents who’d founded a big beauty-supply company and lived in one of the ritziest high-rises downtown.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
