extortionate

[ ik-stawr-shuh-nit ]

/ ɪkˈstɔr ʃə nɪt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR extortionate ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

grossly excessive; exorbitant: extortionate prices.

characterized by extortion, as persons: extortionate moneylenders.

Nearby words

extorsion, extorsive, extort, extortion, extortionary, extortionate, extortionately, extortionist, extr., extra, extra cover

Origin of extortionate

First recorded in 1780–90; extortion + -ate¹

Related forms

ex·tor·tion·ate·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for extortionate

Businesses are suffering more each day in an area where the rents are extortionate, and the situation could boil over soon.
Hong Kong Between Calm and Chaos|Ben Leung|October 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Her sentence was manifestly excessive (the order to pay an extortionate $186 million alone proves his bias).
Is Julia Tymoshenko Europe’s Aung San Suu Kyi?|Geoffrey Robertson|October 23, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Do not importune a gentleman to buy of you; and do not charge an extortionate price for a trifling article.
Social Life|Maud C. Cooke
He was thus fitly punished for his extortionate charge to the town for the lumber he used in their manufacture.
Sabbath in Puritan New England|Alice Morse Earle

One can get as much credit as one likes in this country, provided one winks at extortionate charges.
Hard Pressed|Fred M. White
This extortionate rent is really a fine inflicted by idleness on industry.
Britain for the British|Robert Blatchford
They are extortionate and untruthful, and their one set of harness and one tonga are as rotten as pears.
From Sea to Sea|Rudyard Kipling

British Dictionary definitions for extortionate

extortionate

/ (ɪkˈstɔːʃənɪt) /

adjective

(of prices, etc) excessive; exorbitant

(of persons) using extortion

Derived Forms

extortionately, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

extortionate

adjective

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of extortionate

Related forms

Examples from the Web for extortionate

British Dictionary definitions for extortionate

extortionate

adjective

Derived Forms