What is a word for someone who denies themselves the pleasures of variety and selects high quality from a narrow range of the good things in life?

For instance, someone who likes only Renaissance art, early music, Italian cuisine, Swedish Modern design, country village holidays...

And not other varieties of art, music, food, design, holiday...

But not from ignorance. Nor connoisseurship. Perhaps (I don't know) from a desire for simplification, and it is a distinguishing personality trait.

lil:

    denies themselves
If someone is perfectly happy with their choices they are not denying themselves.

    the pleasures of variety
Variety is pleasurable to those who like variety. To those who prefer the familiar, the understandable, and the recognizable then variety is a burden and not a pleasure. Human brains are not all the same. Your pleasure might be their discomfort.

    the good things in life
And this narrowly selecting human might have tasted sushi and found it wanting, might have seen Michelangelo's David

and found it colourless, might have been to a country village and preferred an urban adventure.

People like what they like and sometimes are fine with that.

It sounds like you might be in the company of a friend and you desperately want the friend to expand his or her boundaries and enjoy the rich experiences that you enjoy. And the friend is Just. Not. Into. It. I could speculate further, but I'm sure you get the idea.

There's no word for the person who is limiting themselves to a narrow range, but there is a word for the person who wants the other person to branch out: frustrated.


posted 2932 days ago