sybaritic

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See also: Sybaritic

English

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WOTD – 22 December 2022

Etymology

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Learned borrowing from Latin Sybarīticus (“of or pertaining to Sybaris or its inhabitants”) + English -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’, forming adjectives from nouns). Sybarīticus is derived from Ancient Greek Συβαρῑτικός (Subarītikós), from Σῠβᾰρῑ́της (Subarī́tēs, “(noun) inhabitant of Sybaris; (adjective) decadent; self-indulgent”)[1][2] (from Σῠ́βᾰρῐς (Súbaris, “Sybaris”) + -ῑ́της (-ī́tēs, suffix forming demonyms)) + -κός (-kós, suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’, forming adjectives). The English word is analysable as Sybarite (“inhabitant of Sybaris”) +‎ -ic. Sybaris, a city of Magna Graecia (the coastal parts of Sicily and southern Italy once colonized by Greek settlers), was known for its wealth and the excesses and hedonism of its inhabitants.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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sybaritic (comparative more sybaritic, superlative most sybaritic)

  1. Of or having the qualities of a sybarite (“a person devoted to luxury and pleasure”); dedicated to excessive comfort and enjoyment; decadent, hedonistic, self-indulgent.
    Synonyms: epicurean, lotus-eating, sybarite, (archaic) sybaritical
    • 1619, Henry Hutton, Follie’s Anatomie. Or Satyres and Satyricall Epigrams with a Compendious History of Ixion’s Wheele. […], London: […] [Nicholas Okes] for Mathew Walbanke, […], →OCLC, signature B4, verso:
      His belly is a Ceſterne of receit, / A grand Confounder of demulcing Meate. / A Sabariticke Sea, a depthleſſe Gulfe, / A ſenceleſſe Vulture, a corroding VVolfe.
      Republished with modernized spelling in Henry Hutton (1842 September) Edward F[rancis] Rimbault, editor, Follie’s Anatomie: Or Satyres & Satyricall Epigrams […], London: […] [T. Richards] for the Percy Society, →OCLC, page 22.
    • 1840, F[rederick] M[arryat], “How to Write a Romance”, in Olla Podrida. […], volume III, London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans, […], →OCLC, page 252:
      [S]he, for whom attendant maidens had smoothed the Sybaritic sheet of finest texture, […]
    • 1961, Robert A. Heinlein, chapter XXXVI, in Stranger in a Strange Land, New York: Avon, →OCLC, page 392:
      Mike took a slow sybaritic sip. "We do use liquor. A few of us—Saul, myself, Sven, some others—like it. I've learned to let it have just a little effect, then hold it, and gain a euphoric growing-closer much like trance without having to withdraw."
    • 1985 September 1, Anthony Burgess, chapter 2, in The Kingdom of the Wicked, London: Allison & Busby, published 2009, →ISBN, page 168:
      He seeks to work in the arena? […] His is a manly trade; sybaritic Rome, that is becoming effeminate, needs to see muscle at work, recalling more primitive glories.
    • 2017 October 16, Alexandra Schwartz, quoting Jennifer Egan, “Jennifer Egan’s Travels Through Time”, in The New Yorker‎[1], New York, N.Y.: New Yorker Magazine Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-12-16:
      He [David Hershkovits] loves to sleep late, he loves to entertain, he's an amazing cook. He's such a joyful, celebratory, sybaritic person.

Alternative forms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ “sybaritic, adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2022.
  2. ^ “Sybaritic, adj.”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present, reproduced from Stuart Berg Flexner, editor in chief, Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2nd edition, New York, N.Y.: Random House, 1993, →ISBN.

Further reading

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