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(n.)
A retail or service experience that is entirely automated, yet still sold as luxurious, personalized, and premium.
Casinos embraced the botique first, with robot baristas charging luxury prices for coffee and a show.
Does it ring true?
From the future, or already here?
Bot + boutique, pronounced BOT-eek. The boutique’s promise was carried by a person: the store owner who knows your taste. When machines can deliver the same outcome, luxury gets redefined: always on and perfectly consistent. A robot masseuse that works your back exactly the way you like it will be preferred by some to the human alternative.
Future Words: A Non-Obvious Glossary of Terms That Don’t Exist (But Soon Will) collects all 100, each with its example sentence and coinage notes, from the bestselling authors of The Future Normal. Hardcover, October 20, 2026.