sumptuary
pronunciation
How to pronounce sumptuary in British English:
UK ['sʌmptjʊərɪ]
How to pronounce sumptuary in American English:
US ['sʌmptʃʊˌerɪ]
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- Adjective:
- regulating or controlling expenditure or personal behavior
Word Origin
- sumptuary (adj.)
- "pertaining to expense," c. 1600, from Latin sumptuarius "relating to expenses," from sumptus "expense, cost," from sumere "to spend, consume" (see sumptuous).
Example
- 1. What sumptuary advice do they offer ?
- 2. Lack of financial ambition goes along with the observance of unwritten sumptuary laws .
- 3. As the booming economy upset the god-given medieval hierarchy , secular sumptuary laws , which regulated consumption habits , were a brake on social mobility .
- 4. Though quite often many workplaces still require formal dress , increasingly one can see that many companies only have very loose sumptuary guidelines .