How to Use extortionate in a Sentence

extortionate

adjective
Definition of extortionatenext
  • Rents are extortionate in the cities people most want to move to.
    — The Economist, 14 Nov. 2019
  • The extortionate smuggling fees leave many migrants in a state of bondage.
    — Washington Post, 1 Nov. 2019
  • Some tickets prices have seen hikes of over 30%, and fans of both clubs have hit out at English Football's governing body for charging 'extortionate' fees.
    — SI.com, 24 Apr. 2018
  • By contrast, a large spike in health-insurance premiums ahead of the 2018 midterms, induced by the president’s extortionate tweets, has no such upside.
    — Eric Levitz, Daily Intelligencer, 4 Aug. 2017
  • For most people, the only way out is with a smuggling network charging extortionate prices — or in an ambulance in the aftermath of an attack.
    — Louisa Loveluck, Washington Post, 30 May 2017
  • From $329 Basics Hotels that pretend to be dog friendly yet charge extortionate fees are my literal pet peeve.
    — New York Times, 7 Apr. 2018
  • Bale is cashing in instead of playing football and Real Madrid are wasting an extortionate amount of money.
    — SI.com, 11 July 2019
  • As populations grow, making land scarce, landlords jack up rents and lend at extortionate rates.
    — The Economist, 12 Oct. 2017
  • Tottenham Hotspur could face something of a player mutiny over their salaries, after details emerged of Daniel Levy's extortionate wage in north London.
    — SI.com, 4 Apr. 2018
  • American children with killjoy parents—the kind who think places like Disneyland are tawdry and extortionate—are blessed with an ally in Stephen M. Silverman.
    — Tunku Varadarajan, WSJ, 24 May 2019
  • As a name of opprobrium: spec. applied to a grasping or extortionate person.
    — Sara Lipton, The New York Review of Books, 17 June 2019
  • Paulinho cost the Madrid giants around £36m, a figure which many onlookers believed to be extortionate for a player who had done little to earn the price-tag in his recent footballing endeavours.
    — SI.com, 21 Sep. 2017
  • Fox News also argued that the the lawsuit was legally meritless and that it was only commenced for the purpose of extracting an extortionate settlement.
    — Eriq Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Mar. 2018
  • However, the £35m fee offered by Beijing has proven too extortionate to compete with, with Bakambu’s switch to China now seeming imminent.
    — SI.com, 7 Jan. 2018
  • Supporters who weren't fortunate enough to get tickets through Arsenal are now having to pay extortionate amounts.
    — SI.com, 4 May 2018
  • Mauricio Pochettino insists that he and his players are unconcerned by Daniel Levy's extortionate salary, claiming that the Spurs chairman 'deserves it' for his work in funding the club's new stadium.
    — SI.com, 7 Apr. 2018
  • The hearings on Trump’s extortionate Ukraine scheme will be quickly followed by the drawing up of articles of impeachment, a House vote, a Senate trial—the mechanisms of the constitutional process.
    — Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 8 Nov. 2019
  • As committee members took turns scolding the airlines for all manner of abuses—ranging from too-tight seating to extortionate changes—there was little agreement among them on how to solve what’s ailing the industry.
    — Barbara Peterson, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 May 2017
  • One of her two main characters, Jack Chen, is a high-tech pirate, roaming the seas in her private submarine while reverse-engineering proprietary drugs for the benefit of those who can't afford the extortionate prices of the drug companies.
    — Gary K. Wolfe, chicagotribune.com, 5 Sep. 2017
  • Once in China, defectors must rely on smugglers who charge extortionate rates to evade Chinese security and North Korean agents.
    — Jane Perlez, BostonGlobe.com, 25 Mar. 2018
  • Nimble startups nibbled away at conventional lenders’ market share in the extortionate business of moving money across borders.
    — The Economist, 25 Dec. 2019
  • Americans are paying extortionate amounts of money for testing and quarantine.
    — Isabella Steger, Quartz, 5 Mar. 2020
  • The ban -- which only applies to foreign nationals, not American citizens -- has triggered widespread confusion, extortionate re-booking fees and frantic Googling.
    — Eliza MacKintosh, CNN, 13 Mar. 2020
  • Skolnick is charged with one count each of production of child pornography, receipt of child pornography, possession of child pornography, child enticement and making extortionate communications.
    — Ben Sales, sun-sentinel.com, 18 Sep. 2019
  • Navigation between terminals is inefficient and labyrinthine at best, the service is indifferent if absent entirely, shopping is decentralized, and the dining options—beyond macarons and chocolate—are extortionate and limited.
    — Lindsey Tramuta, Condé Nast Traveler, 25 Jan. 2018
  • Extortionate disability lawsuits tarnish the legitimate claims of others who genuinely seek redress for inadequate access.
    — Orange County Register Editorial Board, Orange County Register, 25 May 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'extortionate.' 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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