exorbitance

/ɛgˈzɔrbɪtəns/

Other forms: exorbitances

Exorbitance is excessiveness, a situation when there's an unreasonable amount of something, or when a person acts outrageously. A salesman's exorbitance might make you wonder if he's exaggerating about the great deal he's offering.

One kind of exorbitance is excessive spending, like when your grandmother spoils you by showering you with expensive gifts. The exorbitance of a writer or artist shows itself as eccentricity and often brilliant, odd work. Exorbitance comes from the adjective exorbitant, "unreasonably high," which was originally a legal term meaning "deviating from rule or principle." At its root is the Late Latin word exorbitare, "deviate" or "go off the track."

Definitions of exorbitance

1. noun

   excessive excess
   synonyms: outrageousness

   type of:

   excess, excessiveness, inordinateness

   immoderation as a consequence of going beyond sufficient or permitted limits