Extravagating

Part of speech: verb, adjective

Definitions

1. Indulging in an elaborate form of expression that emphasizes ornate language while potentially obscuring the core message
2. Displaying a tendency to embellish communication excessively, which can lead to confusion or distraction from the intended idea
3. Employing language that is excessively elaborate, often making the original message less clear

Etymology: "Extravagating" is the present participle of "extravagate", a verb meaning to wander beyond bounds, which the Oxford English Dictionary records as a term for overdoing elaborate language. The verb was formed in English from Medieval Latin "extravagatus", the past participle stem of "extravagari", itself built from "extra", meaning "beyond" or "outside of", and "vagari", meaning "to wander" or "roam". The Latin root, "vagus", means "rambling" or "wandering", so the core image is a traveller leaving the road. The English suffix "-ate", which forms verbs, was attached to that Latin stem, so the word is a learned borrowing rather than something that came through everyday speech. Its underlying sense is physical: to stray outside the proper limits. The figurative move from literal straying to straying beyond the bounds of good taste in speech explains the modern sense of excessive, ornate phrasing.