extravagant

Definitions

extra- (outside, beyond) + vagārī (to wander) + -ant (adj.) = 'wandering outside the limits.' Someone extravagant has let spending or behavior roam past the boundary of what's reasonable. The excess is pictured as physically straying out of bounds — which is why it fits both lavish spending and over-the-top claims.

Why It Means This

The vivid core is the boundary. Picture a line marking 'reasonable,' and someone wandering right past it. That's extravagant: too much spending, too much display, too much claim. It isn't just 'a lot' — it's 'a lot, out beyond where you should have stopped.' That out-of-bounds feeling is what separates extravagant from a neutral word like 'generous.'

Common Collocations

• 1.extravagant lifestyle奢侈的生活方式
• 2.extravagant spending铺张的开销
• 3.extravagant claims夸大的说法
• 4.extravagant gift奢华的礼物
• 5.extravagant praise过分的赞美

Example Sentences

• 1.

  They threw an extravagant wedding that cost a small fortune.

• 2.

  He made extravagant promises that he could never keep.

• 3.

  It would be extravagant to buy a new car just for the holidays.

Easily Confused

extravagant vs lavish — Both describe spending a lot, but lavish is usually positive or neutral (lavish hospitality = generous, abundant), while extravagant often carries a hint of 'too much, wasteful.' A lavish gift is impressively generous; an extravagant one may be more than was wise.

Synonym Comparison