Adjacent Words

Lavish definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

LAV'ISH, a. [I know not from what source we have received this word. It coincides in elements with L. liber, free, liberal, and lavo, to wash.]
1. Prodigal; expending or bestowing with profusion; profuse. He was lavish of expense; lavish of praise; lavish of encomiums; lavish of censure; lavish of blood and treasure.
2. Wasteful; expending without necessity; liberal to a fault.
3. Wild; unrestrained.
Curbing his lavish spirit.
LAV'ISH, v.t.
1. To expend or bestow with profusion; as, to lavish praise or encomiums.
2. To waste; to expend without necessity or use; to squander; as, to lavish money on vices and amusements.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: very generous; "distributed gifts with a lavish hand"; "the critics were lavish in their praise"; "a munificent gift"; "his father gave him a half-dollar and his mother a quarter and he thought them munificent"; "prodigal praise"; "unsparing generosity"; "his unstinted devotion"; "called for unstinting aid to Britain" [syn: lavish, munificent, overgenerous, too-generous, unsparing, unstinted, unstinting]
2: characterized by extravagance and profusion; "a lavish buffet"; "a lucullan feast" [syn: lavish, lucullan, lush, plush, plushy] v
1: expend profusely; also used with abstract nouns; "He was showered with praise" [syn: lavish, shower]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English laves, lavage, probably from Middle French lavasse, lavache downpour of rain, from laver to wash — more at lavage Date: 15th century 1. expending or bestowing profusely ; prodigal 2. a. expended or produced in abundance b. marked by profusion or excess Synonyms: see profuse • lavishly adverb • lavishness noun II. transitive verb Date: 1542 to expend or bestow with profusion ; squander

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & v. --adj. 1 giving or producing in large quantities; profuse. 2 generous, unstinting. 3 excessive, over-abundant. --v.tr. (often foll. by on) bestow or spend (money, effort, praise, etc.) abundantly. Derivatives: lavishly adv. lavishness n. Etymology: ME f. obs. lavish, lavas (n.) profusion f. OF lavasse deluge of rain f. laver wash

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lavish Lav"ish (l[a^]v"[i^]sh), a. [Akin to E. lave to lade out; cf. AS. gelafian to refresh, G. laben.] 1. Expending or bestowing profusely; profuse; prodigal; as, lavish of money; lavish of praise. 2. Superabundant; excessive; as, lavish spirits. Let her have needful, but not lavish, means. --Shak. Syn: Profuse; prodigal; wasteful; extravagant; exuberant; immoderate. See Profuse.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lavish Lav"ish, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Lavished (-[i^]sht); p. pr. & vb. n. Lavishing.] To expend or bestow with profusion; to use with prodigality; to squander; as, to lavish money or praise.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(lavishes, lavishing, lavished) 1. If you describe something as lavish, you mean that it is very elaborate and impressive and a lot of money has been spent on it. ...a lavish party to celebrate Bryan's fiftieth birthday... He staged the most lavish productions of Mozart... ADJ • lavishly ...the train's lavishly furnished carriages. ADV: ADV with v 2. If you say that spending, praise, or the use of something is lavish, you mean that someone spends a lot or that something is praised or used a lot. Critics attack his lavish spending and flamboyant style... The book drew lavish praise from literary critics. = extravagant ADJ 3. If you say that someone is lavish in the way they behave, you mean that they give, spend, or use a lot of something. American reviewers are lavish in their praise of this book... He was always a lavish spender. ADJ: oft ADJ in/with n • lavishly Entertaining in style needn't mean spending lavishly. ADV: ADV with v 4. If you lavish money, affection, or praise on someone or something, you spend a lot of money on them or give them a lot of affection or praise. Prince Sadruddin lavished praise on Britain's contributions to world diplomacy... The emperor promoted the general and lavished him with gifts. VERB: V n on/upon n, V n with n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. Profuse, prodigal, thriftless, unthrifty, wasteful, extravagant, too free, over-liberal. II. v. a. 1. Waste, squander, dissipate, spend lavishly. 2. Bestow prodigally, pour out.

Moby Thesaurus

abounding, abundant, accord, administer, affluent, afford, alive with, all-sufficing, allot, allow, ample, aplenty, award, bestow, bestow on, bighearted, blow, bottomless, bounteous, bountiful, bristling, bursting, communicate, confer, copious, crawling, crowded, crowding, deal, deal out, diffuse, dish out, dispense, dissipate, dissipative, dole, dole out, donate, easy come, easy go, effuse, effusive, epidemic, exaggerated, excessive, exhaustless, expend, extend, extravagant, exuberant, fat, fertile, flush, fork out, free, freehanded, freehearted, full, galore, gamble away, generous, gift, gift with, give, give freely, give out, giving, go through, gorgeous, gracious, grant, greathearted, hand out, handsome, hang the expense, heap, help to, hospitable, immoderate, impart, impressive, improvident, in plenty, in profusion, in quantity, incontinent, inexhaustible, intemperate, issue, jam-packed, jammed, large, largehearted, let have, liberal, lush, luxuriant, luxurious, magnanimous, many, maximal, mete, mete out, much, munificent, numerous, offer, open, open-handed, openhanded, openhearted, opulent, overabundant, overbounteous, overcopious, overexuberant, overflowing, overgenerous, overlavish, overliberal, overluxuriant, overmuch, overnumerous, overplenteous, overplentiful, overplenty, overpopulated, overpopulous, overprolific, packed, penny-wise and pound-foolish, plenitudinous, plenteous, plentiful, plenty, plethoric, populous, pound-foolish, pour, present, prevailing, prevalent, princely, prodigal, productive, proffer, profligate, profuse, profusive, proliferating, prolific, pullulating, rain, rampant, render, replete, rich, rife, riotous, run through, running over, scatter, seize the day, serve, shell out, shower, sink, slather, slip, snow, sow broadcast, spend, spendthrift, splendid, squander, stintless, studded, sumptuous, superabundant, swarming, teeming, tender, thick, thick as hail, thick with, thick-coming, thronged, thronging, throw away, throw money around, thrust, uncurbed, ungrudging, unreasonable, unrestrained, unselfish, unsparing, unstinted, unstinting, vouchsafe, waste, wasteful, wealthy, well-found, well-furnished, well-provided, well-stocked, wholesale, yield