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, ˌsɪbəˈrɪtɪk /
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.
It’s difficult to imagine a worse addition to this oil-and-water mix of high-minded nonconformist cranks and hard-toiling middle-class settlers than a capitalist sybarite.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 23, 2025
The composer compared his relationship with David to an unlikely marriage — with Mr. Bacharach the cosmopolitan sybarite to his partner’s committed family man.
From Washington Post • Feb. 9, 2023
Mr. Guzmán, in contrast, emerged in court on Tuesday as much less of a sybarite.
From New York Times • Nov. 28, 2018
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
He was a sybarite of refined taste, with an exquisite appreciation of the finer and more artistic pleasures of life; and the society of educated and well-bred women was one of the chief of them.
From The New Tenant by Oppenheim, E. Phillips (Edward Phillips)
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.
