Lavish, Hyperbolic
Read through "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" and find every superlative adjective you can, along with all the exaggerated descriptions and over-the-top characterizations. This is a story that is stuffed full with hyperbole – here's what we found on our own foray through the text:
St. Midas' School is the most expensive and most exclusive boys' preparatory school in the world (1.10)
[Percy]: "My father […] is by far the richest man in the world." (1.14)
It was the taillight of an immense automobile, larger and more magnificent than any he had ever seen. (2.4)
She was the most beautiful person he had ever seen […], the incarnation of physical perfection. (5.4, 5.11)
Starting to get the picture? If you want to see more, check out any one of the lengthy descriptions of the Washington estate – they're just glutted with showy clauses and expensive adjectives. And that's exactly the point. This is a story about garish excess of every kind – it's only fitting that its prose should be equally all about the bling.