Outrance

Word of the Day for Sunday, January 15, 2012

outrance \oo-TRAHNS\, noun:

The utmost extremity.

"Its prevailing features are equability, ease, perfect accuracy and purity of style, a manner never at outrance with the subject matter, pathos, and verisimilitude."
-- Edgar Allen Poe, The Linwoods

I pretend not to be a champion of that same naked virtue called truth, to the very outrance. I can consent that her charms be hidden with a veil, were it but for decency's sake.
-- Sir Walter Scott, Kenilworth

Outrance came from the Old French word oltrance meaning "to pass beyond." It is probably related to outrage.

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/