exorbitant
Americanadjective
-
exceeding the bounds of custom, propriety, or reason, especially in amount or extent; highly excessive.
to charge an exorbitant price; exorbitant luxury.
-
Archaic. outside the authority of the law.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of exorbitant
1425–75; late Middle English < Late Latin exorbitant- (stem of exorbitāns, present participle of exorbitāre to go out of the track), equivalent to ex- ex- 1 + orbit ( a ) wheel track ( see orbit) + -ant- -ant
Explanation
Use the adjective exorbitant when you want to describe something that is really just too much! You'll often hear people griping about exorbitant bank fees or exorbitant interest rates. The adjective exorbitant was originally a legal term to describe a case that was outside the bounds of the law. It comes from the Latin roots — the prefix ex, meaning "out of," and orbita, meaning "wheel track." You can see how the word now has come to be described as something that has gone way off the beaten track, especially in terms of price and value.
Vocabulary lists containing exorbitant
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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The Hunger Games
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "E"
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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.
SpaceX had barely finished making the most exorbitant market claim in capitalist history before word leaked that Anthropic would make a bigger one.
From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026
Paying 6.5% interest rate on a mortgage seems exorbitant compared to the sub-2% rate I can get as a Singaporean back home.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
All of which would usher in . . . exorbitant peacetime tolls to transit Hormuz, the Iranians say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
"Every developer in America heard about the exorbitant rental rates in Bozeman and how attractive it was to develop here," Corner says.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Haymitch is our only hope, but nothing is forthcoming, either from lack of money -everything will cost an exorbitant amount -or because he's dissatisfied with our performance.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
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.
