extravagance

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Archived revision by DTLHS (talk | contribs) as of 22:41, 1 December 2019.
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

Etymology

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

Noun

extravagance (countable and uncountable, plural extravagances)

  1. Excessive or superfluous expenditure of money.
  2. Prodigality, as of anger, love, expression, imagination, or demands.
    • 1803, Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey:
      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.
    • Template:RQ:BLwnds TLdgr
      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.

Synonyms

Template:mid2

Antonyms

Translations

French

Pronunciation

Noun

extravagance f (plural extravagances)

  1. extravagance
    • 1837 Louis Viardot, L’Ingénieux Hidalgo Don Quichotte de la Manchefr.Wikisource, translation of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Chapter I:
      Sa curiosité et son extravagance arrivèrent à ce point qu’il vendit plusieurs arpents de bonnes terres à labourer pour acheter des livres de chevalerie à lire.
      His curiosity and his extravagance came to the point that he sold several arpents of good working land to buy books of chivalry to read.

Further reading

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=extravagance&oldid=58093978"