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
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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.
Given the exorbitant cost, I doubt we’ll see a wave of pregnancies later in life.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
Eight years later, citing exorbitant annual maintenance costs, the government returned the property to the Post Foundation, which put it for sale in 1985 before it was bought by Trump.
From Salon ● Oct. 10, 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
New York City, where exorbitant rents suck up much of young residents’ income, is both a very expensive place to date and filled with outdoor options for meetups on the cheap.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Those willing to pay the exorbitant fees are shifted backward in time to view history firsthand.
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
