exorbitant
adjective
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How Was exorbitant First Used?
The first use of "exorbitant" in English was "wandering or deviating from the normal or ordinary course." That sense is now archaic, but it provides a hint as to the origins of "exorbitant": the word derives from Late Latin exorbitans, the present participle of the verb exorbitare, meaning "to deviate." "Exorbitare" in turn was formed by combining the prefix ex-, meaning "out of," with the noun orbita, meaning "track of a wheel or "rut." ("Orbita" itself traces back to "orbis," the Latin word for "disk" or "hoop.") In the 15th century "exorbitant" came to refer to something which fell outside of the normal or intended scope of the law. Eventually, it developed an extended sense as a synonym of "excessive."
Synonyms
Examples of exorbitant in a Sentence
Hannah Beech, Time, 27 Oct. 2003
As with the black truffle, foie gras is as exorbitant ($52 a pound) as it is decadent (one gram of foie gras can reportedly be 900 calories).
—Heather Morgan, Traveler, April 2000
… I recommend that the Congress adopt … [a] continuation of the law for the renegotiation of war contracts—which will prevent exorbitant profits and assure fair prices to the Government.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt 11 Jan. 1944,
in Nothing to Fear by B. D. Zevin, 1946
They were charged exorbitant rates for phone calls.
the cost of our stay was so exorbitant you would have thought that we had bought the hotel and not just spent a few nights there
Daysia Tolentino, NBC News, 25 Apr. 2024
Accidentally incurring exorbitant charges during an excursion overseas isn't rare, unfortunately.
—Erin Clements, Peoplemag, 18 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for exorbitant 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'exorbitant.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Exorbitant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exorbitant. Accessed 4 May. 2024.
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exorbitant
adjective
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