extravagance
Americannoun
-
excessive or unnecessary expenditure or outlay of money.
- Antonyms:
- frugality
-
an instance of this.
That sports car is an inexcusable extravagance.
-
unrestrained or fantastic excess, as of actions or opinions.
- Synonyms:
- profusion, lavishness
-
an extravagant action, notion, etc..
the extravagances one commits in moments of stress.
noun
-
excessive outlay of money; wasteful spending
-
immoderate or absurd speech or behaviour
Etymology
Origin of extravagance
1635–45; < French, Middle French; see extravagant, -ance
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.
Vocabulary lists containing extravagance
The Crucible
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The Importance of Being Earnest
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30 GRE Words Beginning with "E" and "F"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In the background to all of that extravagance was a pending Premier League judgment against Man City on 115 charges of breaching financial regulations over the course of a decade.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026
“Drag is often obviously about a certain kind of extravagance and fabulousness and Maddie is very humble,” he says.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 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
They understood not only evil, it seemed, but the extravagance of tricks with which evil presents itself as good.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
