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Today is the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi a man known for his simplicity. He refrained from any luxury or comfort. He was a true leader and exactly opposite to today's politicians and so called leaders. I am in search of an antonym to describe these false leaders.

Mahatma was known for his simplicity, today's politicians are known for ____________?

I tried finding the antonym but ended up with words like difficulties, complexities... and so on. You know that's not what I'm looking for. I mean simplicity in living, whereas the thesaurus considers a simple thing to to be in opposition to a complex thing.

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    I think you are looking for something on the lines of- Lavishness(noun), Lavish(adj), Opulent(adj), or Profligate(adj). Some more similar words: here and here.
    – Manish Giri
    Oct 2, 2014 at 7:54
  • Yes, Lavishness is close!
    – Maulik V
    Oct 2, 2014 at 8:40
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    How about extravagance?
    – Mazura
    Oct 2, 2014 at 8:45
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    "He refrained <del>himself</del> from luxury or comfort."
    – TimR
    Oct 2, 2014 at 11:58
  • I think looking at the opposite of ascetic might help. That reference lists self-indulgent as an antonym, although there might be better words out there.
    – ColleenV
    Oct 2, 2014 at 14:30

2 Answers 2

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Maybe one of these would do?

  • Extravagant
  • Baroque
  • Wasteful
  • Rich
  • Lavish
  • Opulent
  • Luxurious
  • Decadent
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    Decadent was the first word I thought of as opposite to Mahatma Gandhi :)
    – oerkelens
    Oct 2, 2014 at 11:10
  • Yes, decadence would fit. I think it is the best choice.
    – TimR
    Oct 2, 2014 at 11:59
  • "Baroque" means intricate and complex, the meaning the poster said he was not looking for. "Wasteful" is debatable: one could live in luxury without being wasteful if everything spent did indeed contribute to your greater comfort, and one could certainly be wasteful without living in luxury. The others all give the intended idea, I believe. Not that the second to last should be spelled "luxurious". Also, these convey different degrees. "Decadent" is the most extreme of the list, I think too extreme for this context. I'd add more mild words or phrases, like "comfort-seeking".
    – Jay
    Oct 2, 2014 at 13:56
  • "Decadence" is also the first one I thought of, along with "Excess".
    – michelle
    Oct 2, 2014 at 13:58
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    Yes, looked upon that. Decadence is better among all. Also, lavish and extravagant are good words. Overall, nice and acceptable answer. Thanks :)
    – Maulik V
    Oct 4, 2014 at 4:41
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Today's politicians are known for their bureaucracy.

Bureaucracies are criticized when they become too complex

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    "Bueaucracy" could be the opposite of "simplicity" in politics, but I don't think that's the meaning the poster is looking for. I believe he's talking about comfort or luxury.
    – Jay
    Oct 2, 2014 at 13:52

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