Word | ritzy |
---|---|
Date | November 29, 2018 |
Type | adjective |
Syllables | RIT-see |
Etymology | César Ritz (1850-1918) earned worldwide renown for the luxurious hotels bearing his name in London and Paris. (The Ritz-Carlton hotel company is a contemporary descendant of these enterprises.) Although they were by no means the first to cater to high-end clients, Ritz's hotels quickly earned reputations as symbols of opulence. F. Scott Fitzgerald, a writer who often focused on the fashionably wealthy, titled one of his short stories "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz," and the phrase "to put on the ritz" means "to indulge in ostentatious display." The adjective ritzy, describing either something fancy or stylish, or the haughty attitudes of the wealthy elite, first checked into the English language in 1920. |
Examples | "Pop star Justin Timberlake … hosted a listening party for his new album at a ritzy Manhattan loft where catering was provided by René Redzepi's impossible-to-get-into Copenhagen restaurant…." — Greg Morabito, Eater.com, 17 Jan. 2018 "Allen owned one of the most desirable properties in California, a 120-acre parcel on a hilltop in ritzy Beverly Crest that is on the market for $150 million." — Scott Kraft, The Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2018 |
Definition | 1 : being, characteristic of, or befitting a snob : snobbish 2 : impressively or ostentatiously fancy or stylish : fashionable, posh |
Tags: wordoftheday::adjective
Learn with these flashcards. Click next, previous, or up to navigate to more flashcards for this subject.
Next card: Betwixt i sprat eat people november adverb preposition
Previous card: Dram equal ounce fluid small weight monkey unit
Up to card list: Word of the Day