Conspicuous leisure is a concept introduced by the American economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen in The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899). Conspicuous or visible leisure is engaged in for the sake of displaying and attaining social status.
Idleness, by John William Godward, c. 1900
Thorstein Bunde Veblen was an American economist and sociologist who, during his lifetime, emerged as a well-known critic of capitalism.
Thorstein Veblen
The Thorstein Veblen Farmstead in 2014