extravagance

American  

[ik-strav-uh-guhns] / ɪkˈstræv ə gəns /

noun

• extravagances
  plural

1. excessive or unnecessary expenditure or outlay of money.

   Antonyms:

   frugality

2. an instance of this.

   That sports car is an inexcusable extravagance.

3. unrestrained or fantastic excess, as of actions or opinions.

   Synonyms:

   profusion, lavishness

4. an extravagant action, notion, etc..

   the extravagances one commits in moments of stress.

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extravagance British  

/ ɪkˈstrævəɡəns /

noun

1. excessive outlay of money; wasteful spending

2. immoderate or absurd speech or behaviour

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• extravagances
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of extravagance

1635–45; < French, Middle French; see extravagant, -ance

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Explanation

Use the noun extravagance when you're talking about something that's over the top, especially when it comes to spending money. Ordering a $500 hamburger for dinner would be an extravagance. Money is usually the subject when people talk about extravagance, although the word can also mean having too much of something, whether it's anger or flowery wallpaper. In Latin, the root word extravagari means "wander outside or beyond," and originally extravagance was used to describe something that was unusual — "wandering outside" the norm. It wasn't until the 1700s that the word became associated specifically with spending too much money.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

extravagance extravagances

Still, for all its impracticality, his own sturgeon pepperpot—requiring four pounds of sturgeon heads and a pound of sturgeon fillet or steak—evokes Gilded Age extravagance and makes a certain kind of historic Philadelphia statement.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

She’s like an Auntie Mame, only her version of extravagance is peanut butter sundaes at Serendipity 3, a course at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and tickets to see Diana Rigg on Broadway in “Medea.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

Trust that if you’ve never enjoyed your eggs with such extravagance and complexity, it will change your palate for the better.

From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2026

The former first lady, now 60, gained a reputation, and criticism, over the years for her alleged appetite for shopping and extravagance, earning her the moniker "Gucci Grace".

From BBC ● Mar. 11, 2026

The brutal extravagance of this matched by the savage economy of that.

From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy

Saudi Arabia is focusing on Vision 2030's more pragmatic ventures as extravagances like NEOM, a futuristic city in the desert, and Riyadh's cuboid skyscraper Mukaab, are scaled back or scrapped to save costs.

From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026

Kelce, then, is another type of distraction, a reminder that Murphy trades in some of the same extravagances he may be critiquing.

From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2024

Otherwise Nick and the various characters peel groups of audience members away to separate rooms off the main ballroom: lounges and boudoirs styled with domestic extravagances of the time, including tufted velvet couches and chaises.

From New York Times ● Jun. 29, 2023

"Anytime he would do any renovations to Sussex Drive or repairs, the media would be all over him for extravagances," he said.

From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2023

“I’m glad of it, that’s one of your foolish extravagances, sending flowers and things to girls for whom you don’t care two pins,” continued Jo reprovingly.

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

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Related Words

• absurdity
• exaggeration
• excess
• luxury
• squandering

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