Definition of "conspicuous consumption" [conspicuous consumption]

• The acquisition and display of expensive items to attract attention to one's wealth or to suggest that one is wealthy. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Was it perhaps symbolic that the only one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world which served a useful purpose and was not an instance of conspicuous consumption was the Pharos at Alex - andria?"
• ""And this is the China Room," a tour guide was saying to a group of tourists, "home of Nancy Reagan's $952 per setting red-rimmed china that sparked a debate over conspicuous consumption back in 1981.""
• "Confronted by such considerations, it seems to me that there is little truth left in Prof.Dr. Veblen's theory of conspicuous consumption and conspicuous waste - that what remains of it, after it is practically applied a few times, is no more than a wraith of balderdash."