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conspicuous consumption

noun

public enjoyment of possessions that are known to be costly so that one's ability to pay for such things is flaunted.

noun

spending in a lavish or ostentatious way, esp to impress others with one's wealth

conspicuous consumption

Buying unnecessary and expensive products and services as a way to show off wealth. The term was coined by U.S. economist Thorstein Veblen in The Theory of the Leisure Class .

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Word History and Origins

Origin of conspicuous consumption¹

Used by Thorstein Veblen in The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899)

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

But it has plenty to pitch concerning the joys and burdens of conspicuous consumption.

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Wine, once the height of boomer culture and conspicuous consumption, has lost its cool among young, more frugal and health-conscious potential customers, many of whom prefer cannabis over Cabernet, experts say.

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This is the only way I can explain why I perused each celebrity’s current advice columns for conspicuous consumption and, much to my shock, found some items that in 2023 seem . . . reasonably priced, comparatively speaking.

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“Luxury” is a word now almost solely associated with objects and conspicuous consumption — a stand-in for “expensive” that ignores the feeling of luxury found in the small micro-luxuries of everyday life.

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Sometimes the gangs spend the money on conspicuous consumption, like most other white-collar criminals.

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conspicuous by its absence conspicuously

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