What does sybarite mean?
A sybarite is someone who makes a habit of pursuing luxury, comfort, and sensual pleasure. The term can describe an appetite for expensive food, sumptuous surroundings, idleness, or other indulgent pleasures, and it is often used with a mildly critical or ironic edge. Calling someone a sybarite therefore suggests more than an occasional preference for luxury; it implies a characteristic way of life centered on gratification. In modern usage, the word is mainly literary and occasionally humorous. Its historical associations extend back to the inhabitants of Sybaris, an ancient Greek colony in southern Italy. Later writers came to portray these people as exemplars of extravagant comfort and pleasure, from which the modern noun developed. The related adjective is sybaritic, meaning characteristically luxuriant or devoted to pleasure.
nounA person who habitually pursues luxury, comfort, and sensual pleasure, especially at the expense of more restrained or purposeful ways of living.
- A person who indulges in luxury, fine food, comfort, and other forms of pleasure, especially as a habitual lifestyle.
"With its velvet loungers and gourmet breakfasts, the retreat seemed designed for sybarites."
"The restaurant's tasting menu appealed to the sybarites in the group."
"Despite his sybarite habits, he maintained an exacting work schedule."
The plural is formed by adding -s.
"Famous artists and sybarites alike gathered at the seaside hotel."
The word comes from Sybaris, an ancient Greek colony in southern Italy whose legendary luxury gave Western languages their word for a lover of extravagant comfort.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does sybarite come from?
The word comes through Latin from Greek Sybaritēs, meaning an inhabitant of Sybaris, an ancient Greek colony in southern Italy. Sybaris became proverbial in antiquity for wealth and luxury, and the sybarite therefore came to mean a person devoted to comfort and pleasure. The related adjective sybaritic and the abstract noun sybarism developed from the same historical association.
Related word forms
How sybarite is actually used
Usually somewhat literary or critical: describing excessive attachment to luxury and pleasure rather than ordinary enjoyment. It may be used humorously, but often carries a faintly disapproving tone.