conspicuous leisure

Conspicuous leisure is a term introduced by the American economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen, in The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899). The term denotes visible leisure for the sake of displaying social status. The term is generally reserved for those forms of leisure that seem to be fully motivated by social factors, such as taking long vacations to exotic places and bringing souvenirs back. Conspicuous leisure is a symptom observed in individuals in all societies where stratification exists. Veblen's more well-known "conspicuous consumption" is a type of conspicuous leisure.