outrance means the furthest degree or extremity, going beyond bounds or propriety. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why this word is great
OUTRANCE — [Noun] The furthest degree or extremity, especially of conflict or excess, characterized by a willful and hostile push beyond all normal bounds. From Old French outrance ("excess"), from outrer ("to pass beyond"), from outre ("beyond"), from Late Latin ultra ("beyond"). Unlike "extremity," a neutral outermost limit, or "excess," a general state of surplus, outrance implies a combative, principled refusal to yield, pushing through to the bitter end. It is the duel fought not to first blood but to death, the ideological purge that consumes its own architects, and the grief that curdles from sorrow into self-destruction—the point where commitment becomes indistinguishable from ruin. To act à outrance is to mistake the cliff's edge for a victory platform.
noun
- The furthest degree or extremity, going beyond bounds or propriety.“1819: But if the shield was touched with the sharp end of the lance, the combat was understood to be at “outrance”, that is, the knights were to fight with sharp weapons, as in actual battle. — Walter Scott, Ivanhoe”