conspicuous consumption

Coined by Thorstein Veblen in 1899.

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.
   • 1899, Thorstein Veblen, chapter 4, in The Theory of the Leisure Class […] ‎, New York: Macmillan, OCLC 17647347:

     Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods is a means of reputability to the gentleman of leisure.

   • 1907, Alvin S. Johnson, "Influences Affecting the Development of Thrift," Political Science Quarterly, vol. 22, no. 2 (June), page 238:

     "Conspicuous consumption" is a proof of economic success.

   • 1952, Paul Mackendrick, "Education for the Art of Living," The Journal of Higher Education, vol. 23, no. 8 (Nov.), page 423:

     Professional humanists . . . resent Veblen's saying that knowing an ancient language is conspicuous consumption and conspicuous waste, like growing your fingernails long and painting them, or keeping a Pekingese.

   • 2004, Ed Hopkins and Tatiana Kornienko, "Running to Keep in the Same Place: Consumer Choice as a Game of Status," The American Economic Review, vol. 94, no. 4 (Sep.), page 1086:

     As a society becomes richer, those whose incomes do not grow spend more on conspicuous consumption in an attempt to keep up.

• acquisitiveness

• keep up with the Joneses

• conspicuous consumption on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “conspicuous consumption”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• "conspicuous consumption in the Wordsmyth Dictionary-Thesaurus(Wordsmyth, 2002)
• Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary (1987-1996)