Dictionary

extravagant en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (Received-Pronunciation) audio
• /ɪkˈstɹævəɡənt/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English extravagaunt, from Middle French extravagant and its etymon Medieval Latin extravagans, present participle of extravagor (“to wander beyond”), from Latin extra (“beyond”) + vagor (“to wander, stray”).

Meanings

1. Exceeding the bounds of something; roving; hence, foreign.
   • The extravagant and erring spirit hies / To his confine. c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
2. Extreme; wild; excessive; unrestrained.
   • There appears something nobly wild and extravagant in great natural geniuses. 1711 September 13 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “SUNDAY, September 3, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 160; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume II, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:
   • The half-dozen pieces […] were painted white and carved with festoons of flowers, birds and cupids. […] The bed was the most extravagant piece. Its graceful cane halftester rose high towards the cornice and was so festooned in carved white wood that the effect was positively insecure, as if the great couch were trimmed with icing sugar. 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
   • extravagant acts, praise, or abuse
3. Exorbitant
   • According to this saga of intellectual-property misanthropy, these creatures [patent trolls] roam the business world, buying up patents and then using them to demand extravagant payouts from companies they accuse of infringing them. Often, their victims pay up rather than face the costs of a legal battle. 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:
4. Profuse in expenditure; prodigal; wasteful.
   • some of the Quakers were extravagant and foolish 1834–1874, George Bancroft, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent, volume (please specify |volume=I to X), Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company [et al.], →OCLC:
   • an extravagant man
   • extravagant expense

Forms

Deriveds

overextravagant · extravagancy · eggstravagant · unextravagant · extravagantly · extravagantness

Relateds

vagabond · extravagation · extravagance

Synonyms

improvident · intemperate · sky-high · lavish · rangy · extortionate · profligate · exorbiant · overweening · exorbitant · unrestrained · wandering · unrestrained · spendthrift · imprudent · extravagant · extravagant · lavish · immoderate · prodigal · unreasonable · lavish · immoderate · unmeasured · wasteful · nimious · overmuch · undue · loose-handed · wanton · profligate · horrendous · de trop · inordinate · reckless · extravagant · excessive · disproportionate · extreme · uneconomical · squandering · unthrifty · extortionable · penal · over the top · obscene · vagrant · inordinate · extortious · squandering · prodigal · extortionate · devilish · usurious

Translations (39)

pl ekstrawagancki (exceeding the bounds of something) · fi liioitteleva (exceeding the bounds of something) · ru непоме́рный (exceeding the bounds of something) · es extravagante (exceeding the bounds of something) · th ฟุ่มเฟือย (profuse in expenditure; prodigal; wasteful) · cmn 奢侈 (exceeding the bounds of something) · ivv michawaw (profuse in expenditure; prodigal; wasteful) · ko 사치 (exceeding the bounds of something) · cs výstřední (exceeding the bounds of something) · bg прекоме́рен (exorbitant) · ro extravagant (exceeding the bounds of something) · mi ngutu hore (profuse in expenditure; prodigal; wasteful) · gl extravagante (exceeding the bounds of something) · it stravagante (exceeding the bounds of something) · id melewah (exceeding the bounds of something) · ru чрезме́рный (exorbitant) · id mentereng (profuse in expenditure; prodigal; wasteful) · ru неумеренный (exceeding the bounds of something) · nl buitenissig (exceeding the bounds of something) · bg разточителен (profuse in expenditure; prodigal; wasteful) · th สุรุ่ยสุร่าย (profuse in expenditure; prodigal; wasteful) · ka ექსტრავაგანტული (exceeding the bounds of something) · nl extravagant (exceeding the bounds of something) · ang oferranc (exorbitant) · la prōdigus (exorbitant) · la profūsus (exceeding the bounds of something) · ar مُسْرِف (profuse in expenditure; prodigal; wasteful) · bg екстравага́нтен (exceeding the bounds of something) · tl bulagsak (profuse in expenditure; prodigal; wasteful) · pt extravagante (exceeding the bounds of something) · fi ekstravagantti (exceeding the bounds of something) · cmn 奢華 /奢华 (exceeding the bounds of something) · gl exorbitante (exorbitant) · ca extravagant (exceeding the bounds of something) · de extravagant (exceeding the bounds of something) · it estravagante (exceeding the bounds of something) · fr extravagant (exceeding the bounds of something) · sv extravagant (exceeding the bounds of something) · cmn 奢侈 (exorbitant)