Sardanapalian

American  

[sahr-dn-uh-peyl-yuhn, -pey-lee-uhn] / ˌsɑr dn əˈpeɪl yən, -ˈpeɪ li ən /

adjective

1. excessively luxurious or sensual.

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Etymology

Origin of Sardanapalian

1865–70; Sardanapal ( us ) a legendary Assyrian king proverbial for his decadence (< Latin < Greek Sardanápal ( l ) os, perhaps ultimately < Akkadian Aššur-ban-apli Ashurbanipal) + -ian

Example Sentences

It was a rude disturber to his Sardanapalian train of thought, as a footman gliding into the room, placed a card in his hand that carried the name of “Swinton.”

From The Child Wife by Reid, Mayne

The Sardanapalian motto, "Laugh, sing, dance, and be merry," seems to be universally adopted in this "City of the Plague."

From A Ramble of Six Thousand Miles through the United States of America by Ferrall, S. A. (Simon Ansley)

The first movement has the martial pomp and hauteur and the Sardanapalian opulence and color that mark 294 a barbaric triumph.

From Contemporary American Composers Being a Study of the Music of This Country, Its Present Conditions and Its Future, with Critical Estimates and Biographies of the Principal Living Composers; and an Abundance of Portraits, Fac-simile Musical Autographs, and Compositions by Hughes, Rupert

The cacique was taken prisoner and with him his entire Sardanapalian court.

From De Orbe Novo, Volume 1 (of 2) The Eight Decades of Peter Martyr D'Anghera by MacNutt, Francis Augustus

Steeped in luxurious indulgence—in the exercise of petty spites and Sardanapalian excesses—confident in the vigilance of their trusted sentinel, Wellington—they had not perceived the storm till it came tearing over them.

From The Child Wife by Reid, Mayne