Meanings
plural extravagances
- countableuncountableExcessive or superfluous expenditure of money.
- countableuncountableProdigality, as of anger, love, expression, imagination, or demands.
The visions of romance were over. Catherine was completely awakened. Henry’s address, short as it had been, had more thoroughly opened her eyes to the extravagance of her late fancies than all their several disappointments had done.
1803, Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey2 more examples
A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor; as, again, the arm-chair in which Bunting now sat forward, staring into the dull, small fire. In fact, that arm-chair had been an extravagance of Mrs. Bunting. She had wanted her husband to be comfortable after the day's work was done, and she had paid thirty-seven shillings for the chair.
1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter I, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC, page 0016At the same time he will need most carefully to avoid anything resembling extravagance or overstatement. While no socialist heorist has ever been known to discredit himself with his fellows even by the silliest of proposals, the old-fashioned liberal will damn himself by an impracticable suggestion.
1949, F. A. Hayek, “The Intellectuals and Socialism”, in University of Chicago Law Review, volume 16, number 3, Chicago: University of Chicago, →DOI, page 430 - countableuncountableSomething extravagant; something done out of extravagance.
That luxury car is an extravagance you can't afford.
1 more example
There were no limos or extravagances at this point, because we all wanted to make as much money as possible. We played it cheap. No huge catering bills, no wild parties, not even upgraded hotel rooms. Whenever we arrived at an airport Robin would be there to meet us in a rented SUV or big sedan, and we'd head to the gig on our own.
2010, Jeff Dunham, All By My Selves: Walter, Peanut, Achmed, and Me
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe quality of exceeding the appropriate limits of decorum or probability or truth
nounthe trait of spending extravagantly
nounthe activity of excessive spending
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Medieval Latinextra
- Frenchextravagance
- Englishextravagance
Borrowed from French extravagance, from Medieval Latin extra + vagor (“to wander”).
More words from French, Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic إِسْرَاف, تَبْذِير
- إِسْرَاف (ʔisrāf)excessive expenditure
- تَبْذِير (tabḏīr)excessive expenditure
- سَرَف (saraf)excessive expenditure
Bulgarian разточителство, чудатост
- разточителство (raztočitelstvo)excessive expenditure
- чудатост (čudatost)prodigality
Catalan extravagància, extravagància
- extravagànciaexcessive expenditure
- extravagànciaprodigality
Chinese Mandarin 奢侈, 揮霍 /挥霍
- 奢侈 (shēchǐ)excessive expenditure
- 揮霍 /挥霍 (huīhuò)excessive expenditure
- 過度 /过度 (guòdù)prodigality
- 過分 /过分 (guòfèn)prodigality
- 奢侈品 (shēchǐpǐn)something extravagant
- 鋪張浪費 /铺张浪费 (pūzhānglàngfèi)something extravagant
Dutch buitensporigheid
- buitensporigheidprodigality
Esperanto ekstravaganco
- ekstravagancosomething extravagant
Finnish tuhlailu, ylenpalttisuus
- tuhlailuexcessive expenditure
- ylenpalttisuusprodigality
- ylenpalttisuussomething extravagant
French extravagance, extravagance
- extravaganceexcessive expenditure
- extravaganceprodigality
- extravagancesomething extravagant
Greek χλιδή, υπερβολή
- χλιδή (chlidí)excessive expenditure
- υπερβολή (ypervolí)excessive expenditure
Irish anchaitheamh
- anchaitheamhexcessive expenditure
Japanese 贅沢
- 贅沢 (zeitaku)excessive expenditure
Latin prōdigentia
- prōdigentiaexcessive expenditure
Persian ولخرجی
- ولخرجی (velxarji)excessive expenditure
Polish ekstrawagancja, rozrzutność
- ekstrawagancjaexcessive expenditure
- rozrzutnośćprodigality
- przesadasomething extravagant
Romanian extravaganță, risipă
- extravaganțăexcessive expenditure
- risipăprodigality
Russian расточительство, транжирство
- расточительство (rastočitelʹstvo)excessive expenditure
- транжирство (tranžirstvo)excessive expenditure
Scottish Gaelic ana-caitheamh, ana-caitheamh
- ana-caitheamhexcessive expenditure
- ana-caitheamhprodigality
Spanish extravagancia
- extravaganciaprodigality
Tagalog kabulagsakan
- kabulagsakanprodigality
Yiddish גוזמאדיקייט
- גוזמאדיקייט (guzmedikayt)excessive expenditure
Cite this entry
extravagance. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extravagance
“extravagance.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extravagance. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “extravagance,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extravagance.
Source: extravagance on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.