as in wasteful
given to spending money freely or foolishly
profligate movie producers hoping to create the next blockbuster
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in spendthrift
someone who spends money freely or foolishly
a profligate who could not really afford the grand style he maintained at Monticello, Jefferson died deeply in debt
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in degenerate
a person who has sunk below the normal moral standard
a drunken profligate, he was given to wretched excess in every aspect of his life
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of profligate
Justine Law, The Conversation, 13 Sep. 2024
About 16 percent of all birds have been documented to hybridize with another species at least occasionally in the wild; ducks are particularly profligate hybridizers, with the familiar Mallard Duck on record as having interbred with more than 40 other duck species.
—Rebecca Heisman, Scientific American, 17 Sep. 2024
Grace Segers, The New Republic, 15 Dec. 2021
In 1911, the two retired to Daytona Beach, Florida, and passed the financial reins to their son William, who would soon grow into a profligate playboy.
—Michael Ames, The New Yorker, 15 Dec. 2021
See all Example Sentences for profligate 
Adjective
Threats to ginseng across Appalachia are a legitimate concern, and curbing profligate overharvesting is important.
—Justine Law, The Conversation, 13 Sep. 2024
About 16 percent of all birds have been documented to hybridize with another species at least occasionally in the wild; ducks are particularly profligate hybridizers, with the familiar Mallard Duck on record as having interbred with more than 40 other duck species.
—Rebecca Heisman, Scientific American, 17 Sep. 2024
Noun
Still, Republicans have slammed Democrats for profligate spending since retaking the majority, decrying the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief measure passed in March and the possible passage of the Build Back Better Act.
—Grace Segers, The New Republic, 15 Dec. 2021
In 1911, the two retired to Daytona Beach, Florida, and passed the financial reins to their son William, who would soon grow into a profligate playboy.
—Michael Ames, The New Yorker, 15 Dec. 2021
See all Example Sentences for profligate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for profligate
Adjective
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Replacing drugs that are still effective is wasteful and expensive.Keren Landman, Vox, 4 Nov. 2024
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Holmes likes the sharp stainless steel blades and the overall design which is a little less wasteful than most other disposables.Marci Robin, Glamour, 31 Oct. 2024
Noun
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That’s half a trillion sucked out of the market and into the bottomless pit of the incontinent spendthrifts in the U.S. government.Clem Chambers, Forbes, 5 Sep. 2024
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Even for a country as awash with cash as Venezuela has been since 2004, Chávez's spendthrift ways have left behind a worrisome level of debt, fiscal deficit, and dependence on imports.Javier Corrales, Foreign Affairs, 4 Jan. 2013
Noun
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On The Challenge: Battle of the Eras, these now-geriatric degenerates will duke it out for the only prize worth fighting for: making their kids proud.Emma Sharpe, Vulture, 14 Aug. 2024
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There’s the medieval brutality: Gómez was a homicidal degenerate who collected torture methods instead of stamps.Tim Padgett, Orlando Sentinel, 9 Aug. 2024
Noun
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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
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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
Noun
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The interplay between pervert audience and chastising host is a delicate dance, as old as time.Bethy Squires, Vulture, 4 Oct. 2024
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Five states and Washington, D.C. have referendums next month that could profoundly change—and pervert—the way each conducts elections.Steve Forbes, Forbes, 24 Oct. 2024
Noun
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He is angered by his father’s instant acceptance of the prodigal’s return.Scott Burns, Dallas News, 18 Dec. 2020
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As a youth, Mr. Graham, now 65, was the prodigal of the Graham family, a college dropout fond of alcohol.Elizabeth Dias, New York Times, 27 May 2018
Noun
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Growing microgreens outdoors in a garden requires a similar procedure: Smooth out existing soil in your garden with a rake.Julie Marks, Verywell Health, 29 Oct. 2024
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Lyn handed me a hollow yellow rake that looked more like a child’s beach toy than a tool.Avery Keatley, Condé Nast Traveler, 19 Oct. 2024
Noun
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Photo: Brown Harris Stevens Above the bedroom is a double-height library, which turns the sloping ceiling behind a mansard roof into a design feature rather than a space waster.Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 24 Oct. 2024
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California is moving to outlaw watering some grass that’s purely decorative Today, the lawn is among the biggest wasters of water in our urban environment — by some estimates accounting for more than half of the gallons used by city residents each year.Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Profligate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/profligate. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
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