extravagant

English

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English extravagaunt, from Middle French extravagant and its etymon Medieval Latin extravagans, past participle of extravagor (“to wander beyond”), from Latin extra (“beyond”) + vagor (“to wander, stray”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪkˈstɹævəɡənt/

• Audio (RP)

  (file)

Adjective

extravagant (comparative more extravagant, superlative most extravagant)

1. Exceeding the bounds of something; roving; hence, foreign.
   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     The extravagant and erring spirit hies / To his confine.

2. Extreme; wild; excessive; unrestrained.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:excessive

   extravagant acts, praise, or abuse

   • 1711 September 14 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “MONDAY, September 3, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 160; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, , volume II, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:

     There appears something nobly wild and extravagant in great natural geniuses.

     The spelling has been modernized.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     The half-dozen pieces […] were painted white and carved with festoons of flowers, birds and cupids. […] The bed was the most extravagant piece. Its graceful cane halftester rose high towards the cornice and was so festooned in carved white wood that the effect was positively insecure, as if the great couch were trimmed with icing sugar.

3. Exorbitant.
   • 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:

     According to this saga of intellectual-property misanthropy, these creatures [patent trolls] roam the business world, buying up patents and then using them to demand extravagant payouts from companies they accuse of infringing them. Often, their victims pay up rather than face the costs of a legal battle.

4. Profuse in expenditure; prodigal; wasteful.

   an extravagant man

   extravagant expense

   • 1834–1874, George Bancroft, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent, volume (please specify |volume=I to X), Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company [et al.], →OCLC:

     some of the Quakers were extravagant and foolish

Related terms

• vagabond
• extravagance
• extravagation

Translations

Further reading

• “extravagant”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “extravagant”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin extrāvagantem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)

Adjective

extravagant m or f (masculine and feminine plural extravagants)

1. extravagant

Further reading

• “extravagant” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
• “extravagant”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “extravagant” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French extravagant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɛkstraːvaːˈɣɑnt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ex‧tra‧va‧gant

Adjective

extravagant (comparative extravaganter, superlative extravagantst)

1. extravagant

Inflection

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin extravagantem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛk.stʁa.va.ɡɑ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland)

  (file)

Adjective

extravagant (feminine extravagante, masculine plural extravagants, feminine plural extravagantes)

1. extravagant

Derived terms

• extravagamment

Related terms

• extravagance

Further reading

• “extravagant”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

German

Etymology

Borrowed from French extravagant.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

extravagant (strong nominative masculine singular extravaganter, comparative extravaganter, superlative am extravagantesten)

1. extravagant

Declension

Related terms

• Extravaganz

Further reading

• “extravagant” in Duden online
• “extravagant” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French extravagant.

Adjective

extravagant m or n (feminine singular extravagantă, masculine plural extravaganți, feminine and neuter plural extravagante)

1. extravagant

Declension

Swedish

Adjective

extravagant (comparative extravagantare, superlative extravagantast)

1. extravagant

Declension

Related terms

• extravagans

References

• extravagant in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• extravagant in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• extravagant in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)