Word.ws English Dictionary

conspicuous consumption

conspicuous consumption noun: a public display of acquisition of possessions with the intention of gaining social prestige; excessive consumerism in order to flaunt one's purchasing power.

Noun

conspicuous consumption (uncountable)

  1. A public display of acquisition of possessions with the intention of gaining social prestige; excessive consumerism in order to flaunt one's purchasing power.
    • Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods is a means of reputability to the gentleman of leisure.1899, Thorstein Veblen, chapter 4, in The Theory of the Leisure Class […] , New York: Macmillan, →OCLC
    • "Conspicuous consumption" is a proof of economic success.1907 June, Alvin S. Johnson, “Influences Affecting the Development of Thrift”, in Political Science Quarterly, volume 22, number 2, page 238

conspicuous consumption meaning in Tamil

conspicuous consumption in Tamil

பகட்டான நுகர்வு

Examples of conspicuous consumption in a sentence

  • As a society becomes richer, those whose incomes do not grow spend more on conspicuous consumption in an attempt to keep up.2004 Sep, Ed Hopkins, Tatiana Kornienko, “Running to Keep in the Same Place: Consumer Choice as a Game of Status”, in The American Economic...
  • Greek artist Akylas' song "Ferto," or "Bring It," provides a playful take on conspicuous consumption in a country still scarred by the economic wounds of the 2008 financial crisis.2026 May 16, The Associated Press, “The Eurovision Song Contest reaches its grand final with pop and protests”, in National Public Radio...

Origin of conspicuous consumption

Coined by American economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen in 1899.

Questions about conspicuous consumption

What does conspicuous consumption mean?
Conspicuous consumption means a public display of acquisition of possessions with the intention of gaining social prestige; excessive consumerism in order to flaunt one's purchasing power.
What is conspicuous consumption in Tamil?
Conspicuous consumption in Tamil is பகட்டான நுகர்வு. See Conspicuous consumption meaning in Tamil.
How do you use conspicuous consumption in a sentence?
As a society becomes richer, those whose incomes do not grow spend more on conspicuous consumption in an attempt to keep up.
What part of speech is conspicuous consumption?
Conspicuous consumption is a noun.

Words near conspicuous consumption in the dictionary

  1. conspicuosity
  2. conspicuous
  3. conspicuous by one's absence
  4. conspicuous consumer
  5. conspicuous consumers
  6. conspicuous consumption
  7. conspicuously
  8. conspicuousness
  9. conspiraboomer
  10. conspiraboomers
  11. conspiracied

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: conspicuous consumption (page history and authors); conspicuous consumption (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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