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César Ritz (1850-1918) earned worldwide renown for the luxurious hotels bearing his name in London and Paris. (The Ritz-Carlton hotel company is a contemporary descendant of these enterprises.) Although they were by no means the first to cater to high-end clients, Ritz’s hotels quickly earned reputations as symbols of opulence. F. Scott Fitzgerald, a writer who often focused on the fashionably wealthy, titled one of his short stories “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz,” and the phrase “to put on the ritz” means “to indulge in ostentatious display.” The adjective ritzy, describing either something fancy or stylish, or the haughty attitudes of the wealthy elite, first checked into the English language in 1919.
Examples of ritzy in a Sentence
Kelly Wetherille, Footwear News, 11 July 2025
Brown’s accused of repeatedly striking Diaw over the head with a bottle of tequila at the Tape nightclub in London’s ritzy Mayfair neighborhood.
—Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 11 July 2025
Patrons—the official Masters nomenclature for spectators—have long jetted into Augusta for golf’s ritzy Spring major, with a sizeable contingent of affluent fans flying private.
—Mike Dojc, Forbes.com, 27 June 2025
Spend an afternoon shopping along the resort town’s ritzy, car-free promenade.
—Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 29 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for ritzy
Cite this Entry
“Ritzy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ritzy. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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