extortionately
- adverb
- /ɪkˈstɔːrʃənətli/
:
de manera extorsionante
- Only the wealthiest tourists can afford the extortionately priced souvenirs.
Examples
-
The restaurant charged us extortionately for a simple meal.
-
The rent in the city center has become extortionately expensive in recent years.
-
He complained that the hotel charged extortionately for Wi-Fi access.
-
Prices in the city are extortionately high!
-
The hotel charged an extortionately high rate for a single night during the holiday season.
-
He found that the prices for groceries in the city were extortionately marked up.
-
They were asking for an extortionately large sum to repair the damage to the car.
Synonyms
2
8.9
In a way that is very unfair or too harsh
1
7.3
Much more expensive than it should be
1
9.3
Doing something in a greedy way by taking more than is needed
In a way that charges very high and unfair interest
How Expensive
1
7.3
9
3.0
5
3.2
129
2.2
2
3.2
40
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
extortionately = extortionate (transparent) = extortion + ate + ly
The adverb is formed by adding the regular adverbial suffix '-ly' to 'extortionate', whose meaning ('unreasonably high') is directly related to 'extortion'.
Etymology
Extortionately comes from the verb extort, which originally meant 'to twist out' and was used for forcing money or goods out of someone. So if a price is called extortionately high, it means the cost is so great it feels like someone is forcing you to pay.