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creature comforts

creature comforts

7 3.9
Small things that make life comfortable, like a warm bed or hot water
  • noun
  • /ˈkriːtʃər ˈkʌmfərts/
  • Informal
translation icon : comodidades
  • "If you've got to go out into the wilderness, you might as well bring a few creature comforts with you."
  • enjoy the creature comforts
  • lack of creature comforts
  • creature comforts of home

Yes, money does buy you some creature comforts for sure.

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Examples

  • Safe, snug, and teeming with creature comforts.

  • They've been living there for years, some with a lot of creature comforts—putt-putt generators running TV sets, that sort of thing.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • We have no need of anything except the creature comforts and lots of them.

  • We have all the creature comforts we need.

    Blog text (4)
  • I used to think I wanted some sort of lifestyle... a good job, fabulous friends, all the creature comforts.

  • You deserve it, for all the creature comforts you've given me.

  • Working there was more economical than renting an office, and I could be close to my creature comforts.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • May I presume, General, you'll be good enough to offer me some small measure of creature comforts?

  • It was a riverboat that provided all the creature comforts, including air conditioning for adventurous Americans.

    Academic text (2005)
  • During our camping trip, we decided to rough it without any of our usual creature comforts.

Synonyms

comfort
vscreature comforts
105 1.5

Possessions and money that make life easier

refers to material items and practical conveniences, not financial state
amenity
vscreature comforts
47 4.4

A useful thing in a building or place that makes living more comfortable

is broader, denoting material things or conveniences that make life pleasant
comforts
vscreature comforts
1.0

Things like a warm bed or nice food that make life pleasant and easy

refers specifically to material things and useful conveniences
conveniences
vscreature comforts
1.7

Things that make life easier and more comfortable, like a dishwasher or Wi‑Fi

focuses on material things that bring general ease and pleasant living

Antonyms

128 3.4

A time of serious difficulty, often with little money or food

119 3.2

A feeling of physical pain or mental unease

How Comfortable

luxe
5 7.9
amenity
47 4.4
creature comforts
  • Informal
7 3.9
sustenance
23 5.7

Surface Forms

Morphology

creature + comfort

The sense can be partly deduced from the parts: 'comforts' = amenities and 'creature' = a living being, so a learner can infer it refers to comforts enjoyed by people. However the phrase is a conventionalized collocation with a somewhat figurative/old-fashioned use of 'creature' and a specific idiomatic focus on everyday material conveniences, so the full meaning is not completely predictable without prior exposure.

Etymology

Creature comforts comes from the old idea of a creature as any living being and comforts as the small things that make life easier. Picture an animal or person enjoying warm food, a soft bed and a cozy fire, so creature comforts now means 'material things that make life comfortable'.