English Explanatory Dictionary

sybarite

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A person devoted to luxury and pleasure; a hedonist.
adj
  1. Synonym of sybaritic (“of or having the qualities of a sybarite; dedicated to excessive comfort and enjoyment; decadent, hedonistic, self-indulgent”).
noun
  1. A native or inhabitant of Sybaris.

Pronunciation

/ˈsɪbəɹaɪt/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-sybarite.wav /ˈsɪbəˌɹaɪt/ en-us-sybarite.ogg

Word forms

sybarite sybarites more sybarite most sybarite

Etymology

The noun is a learned borrowing from Latin Sybarīta + English -ite (suffix forming demonyms). Sybarīta is derived from Ancient Greek Σῠβᾰρῑ́της (Sŭbărī́tēs, “(noun) inhabitant of Sybaris; (adjective) decadent; self-indulgent”), from Σῠ́βᾰρῐς (Sŭ́bărĭs, “Sybaris”) + -ῑ́της (-ī́tēs, suffix forming demonyms)). 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. The adjective is derived from the noun.

Synonyms

voluptuary bon viveur epicure epicurean hedonist high-stepper lapling lotus-eater pleasure seeker pleasurist sensualist softling sybarite voluptuarian sybaritic sybaritical Babylonian decadent epicureal epicureous epicurish hedonic hedonistic intemperate lotus-eating luxurious naughty self-indulgent sensualistic sinful

Antonyms

hedonophobe

Derived words

sybaritism sybaritic
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on S Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary