What does lavish mean?
Lavish means generous or excessive, especially in spending, giving, or providing something. As an adjective, it can describe lavish hospitality, lavish praise, lavish clothing, or lavish surroundings. Such uses may be approving, emphasizing abundance, quality, and generosity, or disapproving, suggesting waste and extravagance. As a verb, lavish means to give or bestow something freely and abundantly, as in “to lavish attention on a project” or “to lavish praise on a performer.” Its meaning extends beyond money: time, care, praise, attention, and elaborate detail can all be lavished. The word is useful because it captures both generosity and excess. The same generous action can therefore be viewed positively as generosity or negatively as wastefulness, depending on the context and the speaker’s attitude. Lavish is common in formal and informal English in Britain and the United States.
Generous or extravagant in giving, spending, or providing; excessively abundant or elaborate.
"The restaurant was famous for its lavish banquets and attentive service."
Often approving when describing hospitality, praise, or craftsmanship, but critical when it suggests waste.
To give, award, or bestow something in generous or excessive amounts.
"The researchers lavished praise on the volunteers."
Usually transitive and figurative: one lavishes praise, attention, care, time, or money upon something.
From a word for a deluge, “lavish” grew into our word for giving—or spending—too much.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does lavish come from?
The word entered English in the early 16th century through Anglo-French and Old French forms associated with a downpour or copious washing, ultimately from Latin lavatio, a washing, derived from lavare, “to wash.” Its early sense of copiousness or abundance developed into the modern meanings of extravagant generosity and excessive provision. Its relatives include lavatory and lavation, which preserve the same Latin root.
Related word forms
How lavish is actually used
The word is neutral in tone when describing generosity, praise, hospitality, or creative detail, but often becomes critical when it suggests uncontrolled spending or excessive display. In its verb sense, it normally takes an object such as praise, attention, care, or money.