Definition of "sumptuous" [sump•tu•ous]

• Of a size or splendor suggesting great expense; lavish: "He likes big meals, so I cook sumptuous ones” ( Anaïs Nin). (adjective)

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.

• "They live in sumptuous quarters, with beautiful flowers in large vases, and have a butler, Alfred."
• "Not only English society, but Indian princes and princesses, American millionaires, and Continental aristocrats attended this ball attired in sumptuous costumes worth thousands upon thousands of pounds."
• "Nick Gevers said it best: "(the novel) tells in sumptuous claustrophobic detail just how alien -- and alienated -- a human society might become, portraying a mighty far-future city state driven by absolute standards of meritocracy turning against itself in hysteria and bloodshed""