extortionate
/ɪkˈstɔːʃ(ə)nət
/ /ɛkˈstɔːʃ(ə)nət/adjective
1(Of a price) much too high; exorbitant: £2,700 for that guitar is extortionate...
- The ticket prices were not extortionate, it was after all a semi final, and we don't play at home again until February 7.
- Rather, he is keen to defend football from the usual allegations that ticket prices are extortionate.
- How do young people have the money to buy these tickets, usually in bulk, and at extortionate prices.
Synonyms
exorbitant, excessively high, excessive, sky-high, outrageous, preposterous, immoderate, unreasonable, inordinate, prohibitive, ruinous, punitive, inflated, more than one can afford;
British over the odds
informal criminal, steep, stiff, over the top, OTT
2Using or given to extortion: the extortionate power of the unions...
- More systematic than previous repressions, the example did much to ensure that revolts did not recur, even during the infinitely harsher and more extortionate later years of the reign.
- This is an extortionate use of the indictment power.
- In response, the author proposes a new crime of "extortionate destruction."
Synonyms
grasping, bloodsucking, avaricious, greedy, rapacious, predatory, usurious, exacting, harsh, severe, rigorous, hard, oppressive
informal money-grubbing
North American informal grabby
Derivatives
extortionately
[as submodifier]: lobster is extortionately expensive here...
- We also receive complaints that people are pressurised into having work done by traders who knock on their door, or visit as a result of an unsolicited phone call, only to find the work is extortionately expensive and badly done.
- Even at the book's launch party, over glasses of poor quality (but extortionately expensive) House of Commons wine, one or two people doubted this was what had really happened.
- This coupled with extortionately high house prices and rents makes it very difficult for those earning the real York average wages to even afford to live.