luxurious, a.
(lʌkˈsjʊərɪəs, lʌgˈʒʊərɪəs)
Also 4 luxsorius, 5 luxurius, 7 luxurous.
[ad. OF. luxurius (mod.F. luxurieux), ad. L. luxuriōsus, f. luxuri-a: see luxury and -ous.]
† 1. Lascivious, lecherous, unchaste. Obs.
| c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 652 (Kölbing) Þe deuelen, þat houen abouen ous, Euer be luxsorius. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 50 Havinge luxurious lokes, countenaunces and signes in her chirche atte the masse. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 76 Ane [is] luxurius, ane othir chaste. 1599 Minsheu Span. Dial. 53/2 Great hee-goats, which is a most luxurious beast. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 428 The beast beginneth to be luxurious, and prone to the rage of venery. 1630 R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. iii. 430 They are exceeding luxurious, by reason whereof the Countrey swarmeth with Whores. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. iv. 52 The luxurious Father of the Fold. |
† 2. Outrageous, extravagant, excessive; also, passionately desirous after something. Obs.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. i. pr. iv. 13 (Camb. MS.) Euery luxurious tormentour [L. flagitiosum quemque] dar doon all felonye unpunysshed. a 1613 Overbury Charact., Wise Man Wks. (1856) 60 He..is not luxurious after acquaintance. 1627 Hakewill Apol. iv. viii. §10. 384 As they were luxurious in the price, so were they likewise in the worke itself. 1665 Needham Med. Medicinæ 266 When this Sulphureous part is exalted, and becomes luxurious in the Bloud. |
3. a. Of persons, their habits, etc.: Given to luxury, or self-indulgence, voluptuous.
| 1606 Warner Alb. Eng. xiv. lxxxvii. 358 Luxurious, idle, Bacchanists. 1691 Hartcliffe Virtues 311 Corinth, the Metropolis of Achaia, was..excessively proud and luxurious. 1722 De Foe Plague (1840) 21 The monarchy being restored..all people were gay and luxurious. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) II. 71 The inhabitants lead a..soft, luxurious life. 1836 J. H. Newman in Lyra Apost. (1849) 85 He..lets his feelings run, In soft luxurious flow. 1875 Gladstone Glean. (1879) I. 32 A wealthy country, with a large leisured class, in a luxurious age. |
b. Of things: Of or pertaining to luxury; characterized by or making a display of luxury.
| 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. 99 The two most precious Pearls which Cleopatra dissolv'd and drunk as a luxurious expression of Love to Mark Antonie. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 784 Those whom last thou sawst In triumph and luxurious wealth. 1713 Steele Guardian No. 18 ¶4 Conveyed to that luxurious Paradise. 1860 Emerson Cond. Life, Wealth Wks. (Bohn) II. 348 A sumptuous ship has..made it [the Atlantic] a luxurious hotel. a 1873 Lytton Pausanias 30 An imitation of the luxurious galleys of the Barbarian. 1879 Farrar St. Paul (1883) 491 The rich brought their luxurious provisions. |
¶ 4. = luxuriant 2. Now rare.
| 1644 H. Vaughan Serm. 26 That is but a luxurious branch shot forth through the strength and heat of devotion. 1653 Cloria & Narcissus i. 59 Arrable grounds, every one intermixt with luxurious Vines. 1662 Evelyn Chalcogr. (1769) 16, I can only name them briefly, the field would be too luxurious to discourse upon them severally. 1801 C. Smith Lett. Solit. Wand. I. 5 This luxurious grass spangled with wild flowers. 1826 Southey in Q. Rev. XXXIV. 103 Their villages are situated in the midst of the most luxurious groves. 1854 Card. Wiseman Fabiola (1855) 349 She wiped them with her luxurious hair. |
† b. Of unhealthy flesh: Granulating exuberantly, ‘proud’. Obs.
| 1676 Wiseman Surg. 378 If in the incarning the Wound the Flesh grow luxurious, touch it with a Vitriol-stone. |