Advanced · Money · Law & order
Sumptuary: meaning, pronunciation and examples
Sumptuary adjective. Relating to laws that limit private spending on luxuries such as food or clothes.
How to say it
SUMP-tyoo-uh-ree/ˈsʌm(p)tjʊəri/
4 syllables, stressed on the first (SUMP).
Sumptuary in a sentence
Tudor sumptuary laws decided who could wear purple silk and who could not.
A ban on gold leaf on desserts sounds like a modern sumptuary rule.
Similar and opposite
Similar:
- regulatory
- restrictive
Where sumptuary comes from
From Latin sumptuarius, from sumptus, expense.
Test yourself
Which word fills the gap?
A ban on gold leaf on desserts sounds like a modern _____ rule.
- chrematistic
- insolvent
- sumptuary
Show the answer
sumptuary: A ban on gold leaf on desserts sounds like a modern sumptuary rule.