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What do you call a person who doesn't prefer the simple life and instead prefers a luxurious life? I'm looking for a term which can be discussed in sociology and even psychology. This is a phenomenon which can be considered all around the world these days. A great tendency to live luxurious life and toward luxuriousness.

You can clearly see the conspicuous consumption in their lives.

I have no idea what such a person can be called and cannot explain anymore.

What would you call them?

  • He is a .....???..... person.
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    I think most people prefer to live in luxury, if given a choice, even very poor people. Don't you mean to ask "What do you call a rich person who prefers to live in luxury rather than live simply?" A moralistic term (not one likely to be used in the social sciences) is hedonist, one who seeks pleasures and comforts. He is a hedonistic person.
    – TimR
    Jan 25, 2017 at 12:34

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The other answers "sybarite" and "hedonist" are good; however these can apply to anyone regardless of income.

Rich people who live a life of conspicuous consumption can be referred to as members of the "gilded class". This is a reference to the very wealthy of the "gilded age" (from the 1870s to early 1900s) and their immoderately lavish way of life.

This kind of lifestyle can be called "opulent" (ostentatiously costly and luxurious), and "materialistic" (overly concerned with the accumulation of material possessions rather than spiritual, cultural, or intellectual values).

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  • Then is it possible to call someone a "sybarite" or an "opulent"? Meanwhile, please let me know which one is closer to someone who loves luxuriousness @Andrew?
    – A-friend
    Jan 26, 2017 at 8:18
  • @A-friend "opulent" is an adjective. "Opulence" is the noun, similar two "luxury". A sybarite likes to lead a life of opulence -- they go together. If you want to be clear you could say a "wealthy sybarite" or "a sybarite with a plethora of time and money".
    – Andrew
    Jan 26, 2017 at 14:50
  • What do you think of saying just: "He/she loves to live a luxorious life." @Andrew? Does it imply what I'm looking for?
    – A-friend
    Jan 26, 2017 at 14:55
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    Yes, certainly. We can only give you the words, but without more context it's hard to tell you which one actually will fit the best. Whatever you use should match the style of the rest of your writing.
    – Andrew
    Jan 26, 2017 at 15:12
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A word which might fit perfectly is sybarite: "a person addicted to luxury and pleasures of the senses."

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  • Thank you very much @Stangdon. But perhaps TR's offer "hedonist" / "hedonistic" is too close to your "sybarite" which based on the link you shared, sounds to be even closer to what I'm looking for. May I ask you to help me compare them? I found lots of semantic coverage in dictionaries and cannot recognize the difference.
    – A-friend
    Jan 25, 2017 at 12:59
  • @A-friend - I don't think there is very much of a difference in meaning. Very technically, hedonism is the belief system that pleasure is the sole or primary good in life, but nobody really uses it that way; in practice hedonist just means "a pleasure-seeker, or somebody who values physical pleasures above all else".
    – stangdon
    Jan 25, 2017 at 17:33

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