You searched for: “prodigal
prodigal (s) (noun), prodigals (pl)
1. A spendthrift or a profligate (wasteful) spender: Alice was a prodigal who went through the income that her husband earned as if it were water.
2. Anyone who spends funds in an excessive or uncontrollable way: Jane wrote a book about prodigals who had received large amounts of money from their parents and ended up living in poverty because they wasted the inheritances that they had received.

Prodigals are wasteful people who cannot live within their incomes, and then find that they cannot live within their credit accounts either.

—Compiled from a quote by Evan Esar in his
Esar's Comic Dictionary; Doubleday & Company, Inc.;
Garden City, New York; 1983; page 477.
This entry is located in the following unit: prodigal- (page 1)
prodigal (adjective), more prodigal, most prodigal
1. Descriptive of someone who is a spendthrift and reckless with money and other valuable goods: Karl's neighbor has nothing left of his inheritance because of his prodigal behavior and excessive way of living.
2. Referring to the expenditure of large amounts of funds without thinking of the future: There have been rumors that the company's CEO (chief executive officer) has been using prodigal money from the business which he has no right to.
3. Etymology: from Latin prodigere, "to drive forth, to use up, to waste"; derived from Latin prodigus, "spend thrift" and the rare word prodigalitas, from which the words prodigality and prodigal came into English.
Descriptive of excessive and wasteful spending.
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Relating to lavish and over distribution of material goods; especially, money.
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This entry is located in the following units: ag-, agen-, act-, agi-, agit- (page 13) prodigal- (page 1)
prodigal, prodigal, profligate
prodigal (PRAHD i guhl) (adjective)
Characterized by extravagant, wasteful, lavish deportment: Ryan's prodigal behavior about the food left from the banquet upset many people.
prodigal (PRAHD i guhl) (noun)
An individual who spends money foolishly or profusely: Despite winning the lottery, Terry was a prodigal and was soon poor again.
profligate (PRAHF li git, PRAHF li gayt") (noun)
A person who always acts in a dissipated or wildly luxuriant manner: The king's son was a profligate and not liked by others in the court who feared he would bankrupt the treasury.

The ruler of the ancient kingdom, a true profligate had prodigal habits and wasted the valuable resources of the realm.

(Latin: a spendthrift, wasteful; a squanderer; to drive forth)
Word Entries containing the term: “prodigal
prodigal son (s) (noun) (no plural)
The younger son who wasted his inheritance in a parable by Jesus in the Bible (Luke 15:11-32): The prodigal son is forgiven by his father while his obedient and loyal elder brother protests the father's actions.
This entry is located in the following unit: prodigal- (page 1)
Word Entries at Get Words: “prodigal
Referring to someone who wastes money or other valuable things. (2)