voluptuary

American  

[vuh-luhp-choo-er-ee] / vəˈlʌp tʃuˌɛr i /

noun

plural

voluptuaries

1. a person whose life is devoted to the pursuit and enjoyment of luxury and sensual pleasure.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characterized by preoccupation with luxury and sensual pleasure.

   voluptuary tastes.

voluptuary British  

/ vəˈlʌptjʊərɪ /

noun

1. a person devoted or addicted to luxury and sensual pleasures

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adjective

1. of, relating to, characterized by, or furthering sensual gratification or luxury

Etymology

Origin of voluptuary

First recorded in 1595–1605; from French voluptuaire, from Late Latin voluptuārius, from Latin “pertaining to (sensual) pleasure,” equivalent to volupt(ās) “pleasure, delight” + -ārius adjective suffix; -ary; for -u- voluptuous

Explanation

A voluptuary loves the good life — he is a person whose fondest wish might be to lie on a velvet sofa while being fed chocolate cupcakes. Another word for voluptuary is hedonist, someone whose favorite things are comfort and luxury, and whose highest priority is sensual pleasure. A voluptuary might be especially fond of fine clothing, delicious food, and a luxurious home. The Latin root of voluputary is voluptas, which means "pleasure," and that is exactly what a voluptuary is preoccupied with, his or her own pleasure.

Example Sentences

Julián, a hacking, aging voluptuary, chastises a couple he knows for avoiding him in public because of their inability to face his illness.

From New York Times • Apr. 5, 2017

Behind his impassioned rages, his enormous ambition, his gigantic self-confidence, there lay not the indulgent ease of a voluptuary, but the trivial tastes, the conventional domesticity, of the petty-bourgeois.

From The Guardian • Sep. 5, 2016

Gumprecht Weiss — we learn his name later on — had once been a voluptuary but in middle age now prefers an ascetic, philosophical life.

From Washington Post • Jan. 21, 2015

You probably don't picture a notorious voluptuary, a man who just last year was chowing on double burgers right before a conference on obesity.

From Salon • Dec. 28, 2010

Certain minds are satisfied with the fantasmagoria of their intelligence, whereas the voluptuary finds happiness only in the pleasure of realisation.

From The Trial of Oscar Wilde From the Shorthand Reports by Anonymous