2
: one who expends resources foolishly and self-indulgently : profligate
Examples of wastrel in a Sentence
the black sheep of the family, he ended up being a wastrel and a drunkard
Recent Examples on the Web
Ridley, traumatized by the cancer death of her mother and considered mostly a wastrel by those around her for pursuing a degree in the dread-inducing major of art history, knows a thing or two about the mythology behind these kindly rainbow-spewing creatures.
—
Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 12 Mar. 2025
Henry Muck, suitably nicknamed Prince Hal by his family and friends, may be Industry’s version of the ultimate privileged wastrel.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 27 Aug. 2024
Atay lingers on the outskirts, keeping the company of workers and wastrels, poets and drunks—all those who refuse the monumental transformations of Turkish society.
—Merve Emre, The New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2024
Casting is everything; Minghella arranges for his most handsome performer, Jude Law, to play Dickie Greenleaf, the wealthy wastrel whom Ripley (Matt Damon) slays and then seeks to replace.
—Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2024
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Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 12 Mar. 2025
Henry Muck, suitably nicknamed Prince Hal by his family and friends, may be Industry’s version of the ultimate privileged wastrel.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 27 Aug. 2024
Atay lingers on the outskirts, keeping the company of workers and wastrels, poets and drunks—all those who refuse the monumental transformations of Turkish society.
—Merve Emre, The New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2024
Casting is everything; Minghella arranges for his most handsome performer, Jude Law, to play Dickie Greenleaf, the wealthy wastrel whom Ripley (Matt Damon) slays and then seeks to replace.
—Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2024
See All Example Sentences for wastrel
Cite this Entry
“Wastrel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wastrel. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
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wastrel
noun
wast·rel
ˈwā-strəl 
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