extravagance vs extravaganza

Which to use

“extravagance” and “extravaganza” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#36,551
“extravagance” frequency rank: #30,790
“extravaganza” frequency rank: 67341
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	extravagance	extravaganza
Definition	Excessive or superfluous expenditure of money.	An extravagant or eccentric piece of music, literature, or drama, originally associated with Victorian England.

Where the eye mixes extravagance and extravaganza

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.

12 ch

extravagance

12 ch

extravaganza

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. extravagance (/ɪkˈstɹævəɡən(t)s/) and extravaganza (/ɪkˌstɹæv.əˈɡæn.zə/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67341, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

extravagance is recorded at frequency rank #36,551, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɪkˈstɹævəɡən(t)s/. extravaganza is at rank #30,790, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɪkˌstɹæv.əˈɡæn.zə/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 67341, this pair ranks #63,775 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of extravagance vs extravaganza

Shared letters: aegnrtvx. Private to "extravagance": c. Private to "extravaganza": z.

"extravagance" · 12 letters · shape VCCCVCVCVCCV · "extravaganza" · 12 letters · shape VCCCVCVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

extravagance ← etxravagance · exrtavagance · extarvagance · extraavgance · extravaagnce · extravagacne · extravagancce · extravaganec
extravaganza ← etxravaganza · exrtavaganza · extarvaganza · extraavganza · extravaagnza · extravaganaz · extravagannza · extravaganzza

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "extravagance" and "extravaganza" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ɪkˈstɹævəɡən(t)s/ versus /ɪkˌstɹæv.əˈɡæn.zə/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "extravagance" or "extravaganza"?

"extravaganza" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,790 in our English list, against #36,551 for "extravagance". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.