lavish
/ˈlævɪʃ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.42 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
adj
Rank or lush with vegetation.
Example Sentences
- "lavish of money; lavish of praise"
- "The day was cool and snappy for August, and the Rise all green with a lavish nature. Now we plunged into a deep shade with the boughs lacing each other overhead, and crossed dainty, rustic bridges over the cold trout-streams, the boards giving back the clatter of our horses' feet:[…]."
- "Mind you, clothes were clothes in those days. There was a great deal of them, lavish both in material and in workmanship."
- "lavish spirits"
- "lavish meal"
- "Let her haue needfull, but not lauish meanes"
Etymology
From Middle English laves, lavas, lavage (“extravagant, wasteful, prodigal”), from lavas (“excessive abundance”), from Old French lavasse, lavache (“torrent of rain”); possibly later conflated in some senses by Middle English laven (“to pour out”), equivalent to lave + -ish. Compare Scots lawage, lavisch, lavish (“unrestrained, excessively prodigal, extravagant”). Compare also English lavy (“lavish, liberal”), Dutch lafenis (“lavishness”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Usage
Inflected Forms
lavisher (comparative)
more lavish (comparative)
lavishest (superlative)
most lavish (superlative)
lavis (alternative, obsolete)
laves (alternative, obsolete)
lavas (alternative, obsolete)
lavishes (present, singular)
lavishing (participle, present)
lavished (participle, past)
lavished (past)