exorbitant means exceeding proper limits; excessive or unduly high; extravagant.
exorbitant is pronounced /ɪɡˈzɔːbɪtənt/.
Why “exorbitant” is a great word
Exceeding proper or customary limits, especially in cost or price; unreasonably high. From Late Latin *exorbitāns*, present participle of *exorbitāre* ("to go out of the track"), from Latin *ex-" ("out of") + *orbita* ("wheel-track, rut, orbit"), first attested in English in the mid-15th century. Unlike "extravagant," which suggests lavish wastefulness, or "steep," a merely informal gauge of height, exorbitant denotes a quantitative and moral transgression. It is the landlord who triples the rent overnight, the hospital bill that eclipses a life's savings, the bottled water sold for twenty dollars in the wake of a storm—a figure that has wandered so far from the track of fairness it enters the trackless wilds of outrage.
Etymology
From Middle English exorbitant, through Old French from Late Latin exorbitāns, present active participle of exorbitō (“to go out of the track”), from ex (“out”) + orbita (“wheel-track”); see orbit. Compare French exorbitant.
adj
- Exceeding proper limits; excessive or unduly high; extravagant.e.g.“It’s a nice car, but they are charging an exorbitant price for it.”
Words closest in meaning
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