Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An elaborate, spectacular entertainment or display: "Washington is an extravaganza of great buildings, greenery, and monuments” ( Larry Griffin).
- n. Music A composition marked by freedom and diversity of form, often with burlesque elements and satirical or parodic intent.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Something out of rule, as in music, the drama, etc.; a composition characterized by extravagant, fantastic, or capricious qualities, as “Hudibras” or “Bombastes Furioso”; a burlesque.
- n. An extravagant flight of feeling or language.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A composition, as in music, or in the drama, designed to produce effect by its wild irregularity; esp., a musical caricature.
- n. An extravagant flight of sentiment or language.
- n. a lavish or spectacular show or event, or presentation.
WordNet 3.0
- n. any lavishly staged or spectacular entertainment
Etymologies
- from Italian (e)stravaganza by similarity to extravagant (Wiktionary)
- Italian estravaganza, extravagance, from estravagante, extravagant, from Medieval Latin extrāvagāns, extrāvagant-, present participle of extrāvagārī, to wander; see extravagant. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Going to Philly for the Spooky/Hugh/Nikki birthday extravaganza is $140+; if I can swing that * and* the printer bill, great.”
“Esteemed colleagues and fellow bloggers: The following video extravaganza is an electronic manifestation of a special feature that's running in the July issue of Field & Stream.”
“The bloggiversary giveaway extravaganza is shutting down the day after Christmas, so be sure to get your entries in to paperfruitcontest at gmail dot com before midnight Mountain Time on Dec. 26th!”
“So grab your dentist and head to the next candy feast, because this Halloween extravaganza is just beginning!”
“And Eddie Murphy's multi-role drag extravaganza is not the least bit funny.”
“As it happens, the subject of today's entry in Not Coming to a Theater Near You's "31 Days of Horror" extravaganza is a vampire movie.”
“Why it was never collected with **that** multi-title extravaganza has always baffled me.”
Help me buy my comics this week! | Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources
“OK, maybe that's overstating things, but I really wanted to use the word extravaganza ...”
“[...] 23, 2009 at 1: 30 pm (this and that, writing) (contest, fiction, so awesome) The bloggiversary giveaway extravaganza is shutting down the day after Christmas, so be sure to get your entries in to paperfruitcontest at [...]”
“Joining this issue for the extravaganza is new ongoing writer Felicia D. Henderson, a co-executive producer on TV’s hit show Fringe!”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘extravaganza’.
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Go to work on an egg
Words which - with a modicum of tolerance in pronunciation - sound like ways of cooking eggs.
exacerbate, exculpate, exclamatory, exhume, expansion, expeditious, explicit, expostulate, expunge, extortionate, extravaganza, exultant and 31 more...
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words-for-apocalipstick
all your words are belong to me.
sybaritic, cacography, scatterbrain, extravaganza, fenestra, kaleidophone, machination, mudpuppy, saturnalia, Bacchanalia, ersatz, fictile and 58 more...
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EN - trendy lifestyle words
private, tenacious, vogue, hoard, landscape, extravaganza, besiege, eatery, wrest, refurbish, enticing, breakout and 24 more...
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Twitter favourites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favourite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
thunderfuck, incredible, merp, sara, flopparoo, smother, fugly, buer, plum, canny, nefelibata, cuntbucket and 1972 more... -
africasunsets's list
serendipity, fragrance, glamour, smitten, nourish, lavish, luxury, wicked, gem, daring, soothe, fantasy and 192 more...
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The braggadocio recipe
A selection of English* words ending with a vowel (except "y", "ea", ie", "ee", "oo", "ea", "ou") that is REALLY pronounced.
My favorite English words, by the way.
The good twin of The ...braggadocio, recipe, encyclopedia, solo, gnu, flu, maybe, apocope, mini, arrhythmia, folio, stereo and 197 more...
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katiad's Words
exquisite, obnoxious, noxious, extravaganza, whirlwind, whirling, wild, spinster, existential, chaos, zephyr, blasphemy and 310 more...
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Spelling Bee list 2011
Abalone, ablution, absolution, aboriginally, abstemious, academician, acclamation, accommodation, acculturation, acetic, acetone, acme and 590 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, E
excoriate, exoskeleton, enclave, endemic, erstwhile, entwine, elliptical, élan, earflaps, earlobe, earthen, earthenware and 238 more...
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kingrat47's Words
procrustean, devolution, cacophony, hippopotamus, crunch, beware, chortled, sibilant, subtle, undermine, acromegaly, acropolis and 645 more...
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ginnylev's Words
neuroplasticity, repudiate, scintilla, ruminate, tautology, ombudsman, exigent, filibuster, grace, ambidextrous, amends, disclosure and 623 more...
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Baron Luke's Collection
An assortment of words, which, when used, should inject some vibrancy into your day, hopefully expunging any ennui!
expunge, cogitate, elucidate, post-haste, rebarbative, recalcitrant, smite, absquatulate, forlorn, thole, nefarious, insubordination and 124 more...
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Tulip Names I
No rhyme or reason other than that I like the names. :-) For more flower fun, see these lists:
Rose words by mollusque
Rose varieties by mollusque
Tulip Names II: You Know ...abbey dream, abbey road, abodement, abra, abra elite, academician tstisin, acapulco, ace of diamonds, acropolis, ad hoc, adamo, addis and 597 more...
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oddball
wackadoodlery.
( personal list )
related (from me):
http://www.wordnik.com/lists/onomatopoeias--1
bric-a-brac, succotash, humbucker, skedaddle, scallywag, sassafras, gadzooks, humdinger, hoity-toity, wishy-washy, namby-pamby, ding dong and 441 more...
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Words That Populate My Mind
This is a collection of words I love, old ones that I love the sound of when I repeat them for years and new ones coined in news articles on up and coming trends and technologies - most of them I k...
aroma, mojo, blithely, fringe, fray, synchronicity, doublespeak, buzzword, thoughtcrime, portmanteau, newspeak, oldspeak and 963 more...
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A Dalliance of Dahlias
For more flower fun, see these lists:
Rose words by mollusque
Rose varieties by mollusque
Tulip Names I
Tulip Names II: You Know My Name
A Myriad of Iriia la mode, ace o' hearts, acclimation, adhesion, admirable, adorable you, advance, affirmed, after glow, agricola, alabama melody, alabaster queen and 1152 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for extravaganza.
mollusque And the current travaganza? Jul 12, 2008
reesetee Ha! In my mind, that's how I see this word. :-) Dec 7, 2007
thtownse What about the regular vaganza? Dec 7, 2007