extravagance

UK/ɪkˈstɹævəɡən(t)s/US/ɪkˈstɹævəɡən(t)s/

nounC1Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #10,394 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: extravagances

Extravagance is spending far more than is needed. A rare extravagance.

It is judged against means rather than any absolute, since a small sum can be an extravagance. The Latin behind it means wandering beyond, which is what the spending does.

Definitions of extravagance

1nounextravaganceSpending far more than is needed.C1
“The one extravagance in the whole house was the piano.”

extravagance is a spending.

Where it comes from

Medieval Latin extravagari means to wander beyond, from extra plus vagari, to wander.

Medieval Latin
extra
French
extravagance
English, today
extravagance

Built from

vagor · Latin — to wander

French extravagance, from Medieval Latin extra + vagor (“to wander”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

extravagance in the wild

One European study suggests that violet is the color people most often associate with extravagance, individualism, vanity and ambiguity.
Violet (color)
Desserts are very rich and sweet, combining native ingredients with the extravagance and style characteristic of the French impact on Senegal's culinary methods.
Senegalese cuisine
Although he was probably not a Scythian, the (self-chosen) nickname appears to express a certain extravagance or individualism.
Skythes
To fund his extravagance he gradually disposed of all his lands.
Richard Gargrave

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the vagor family

extravagant vagrant extravagance

extravagance — used about once every 6,207 pages · #10,394 · point at the bar for the others

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