Sybarite
noun
a person devoted to luxury and pleasure.
Sybarite
American
[sib-uh-rahyt]
/ ˈsɪb əˌraɪt /
noun
-
(usually lowercase) a person devoted to luxury and pleasure.
- Synonyms:
- sensualist
-
an inhabitant of Sybaris.
sybarite
1
British
/ ˈsɪbəˌraɪt /
noun
adjective
sybarite
2
British
/ ˈsɪbəˌraɪt /
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of Sybarite
1590–1600; < Latin Sybarīta < Greek Sybarī́tēs. See Sybaris, -ite 1
Explanation
If you know someone who's totally addicted to luxurious things and all of life's pleasures, call her a sybarite. Unless she's inviting you over for champagne brunches and showering you with gifts — in which case you should keep your mouth shut. Sybarite was first recorded in the 1600s, meaning a “person devoted to pleasure.” The literal translation of this noun is “inhabitant of Sybaris,” which was an ancient Greek town full of citizens who loved nice things. Today, the word still has the same two meanings: it's either a person who could be described as addicted to pleasures and luxury (like a hedonist), or an actual person who lives in Sybaris.
Vocabulary lists containing sybarite
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Enjoy! Synonyms for "Pleasure"
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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 Maranello flagship, for example, was overhauled by London’s Sybarite studio and given an undulating facade of red glass and white brick walls.
From New York Times ● Jun. 16, 2021
An extra three furlongs looks sure to help Sybarite and the race in which he ran in November has been an excellent pointer.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 11, 2011
At his recent pre-Festival media day, he said: "At the moment, if you're going to break my arm as to what would be my next possible Imperial Commander, it would be Sybarite."
From The Guardian ● Mar. 11, 2011
To amuse themselves, according to legend, the superb Sybarite cavalrymen trained their horses to dance to pipe music.
From Time Magazine Archive
She loves having a fuss made of her, beef tea—chicken—jelly with whipped cream—and fires in her bedroom, little Sybarite.
From I'll Leave It To You A Light Comedy In Three Acts by Noel Coward
Cindy may be the opposite of a sybarite, but she knows something about how human beings morph over time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026
All too often Ive comes off less as a visionary than a sybarite.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 3, 2022
At once confessional and curatorial, the book portrays Oswalt as not just a celluloid sybarite, but someone dead serious about the art.
From Slate ● Jan. 5, 2015
She would be accused of being a sybarite if it weren’t for the conceptual rigor she applies to her aesthetics.”
From New York Times ● May 31, 2013
I should become a complete domestic sybarite, and no more fit to go back to my tasks in the Malay jungle than to fly.
From One Maid's Mischief by George Manville Fenn
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
