Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An elaborate, spectacular entertainment or display.
  • noun Music A composition marked by freedom and diversity of form, often with burlesque elements and satirical or parodic intent.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun 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.
  • noun An extravagant flight of feeling or language.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A composition, as in music, or in the drama, designed to produce effect by its wild irregularity; esp., a musical caricature.
  • noun An extravagant flight of sentiment or language.
  • noun a lavish or spectacular show or event, or presentation.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An event or display (dramatic, musical, etc.) of fantastic or chaotic behaviour or conduct.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun any lavishly staged or spectacular entertainment

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Italian estravaganza, extravagance, from estravagante, extravagant, from Medieval Latin extrāvagāns, extrāvagant-, present participle of extrāvagārī, to wander; see extravagant.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

from Italian (e)stravaganza by similarity to extravagant

Support

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Examples

  • 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!

    last reminder « paper fruit 2009

  • 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!

    2009 December « paper fruit 2009

  • Going to Philly for the Spooky/Hugh/Nikki birthday extravaganza is $140+; if I can swing that * and* the printer bill, great.

    Checking in yuki_onna 2009

  • 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.

    No B.S. 2009

  • 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.

    Uncategorized Blog Posts 2009

  • So grab your dentist and head to the next candy feast, because this Halloween extravaganza is just beginning!

    Best Night Ever for Sunday, October 28th! | Best Week Ever 2007

  • And Eddie Murphy's multi-role drag extravaganza is not the least bit funny.

    GreenCine Daily: Brooklyn Rail. March 07. 2007

  • 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.

    GreenCine Daily: Blog-a-Thon: Vampires! 2006

  • 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 2007

  • OK, maybe that's overstating things, but I really wanted to use the word extravaganza ...

    B3: Big, Bald and Beautiful 2008

Comments

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  • What about the regular vaganza?

    December 7, 2007

  • Ha! In my mind, that's how I see this word. :-)

    December 7, 2007

  • And the current travaganza?

    July 12, 2008