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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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

2

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of profligate
Adjective
Arsenal were certainly profligate, with Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber all spurning fine opportunities. Elias Burke, The Athletic, 8 Jan. 2025 When the profligate first four years of socialist rule, from 1981-85, resulted in a rapidly deteriorating economy, Papandreou elevated Simitis to be finance minister and oversee a tight austerity program. Demetris Nellas, Los Angeles Times, 5 Jan. 2025
Noun
After years of profligate spending, the city had dwindling tax revenues and huge budget deficits; was low on cash for operating expenses; and, unable to borrow more, faced horrendous personnel layoffs, service cuts and bond defaults. New York Times, 5 Jan. 2022 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 See All Example Sentences for profligate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for profligate
Adjective
  • Lower taxes, less regulation, eliminating bureaucracy and wasteful spending allows business to thrive.
    Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Mar. 2025
  • Rubin’s reporting for the San Francisco Chronicle, NPR and Capital & Main has led to state laws protecting workers from lead poisoning and has exposed wasteful spending.
    Joe Rubin, Sacramento Bee, 13 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Most states allow spendthrift trusts, but some limit the amount of principal that can be protected.
    Bob Carlson, Forbes, 13 Mar. 2025
  • The Bucs came through three spendthrift seasons with Tom Brady, winning Super Bowl 55 then trying to defend that title, which proved unsuccessful.
    Rick Stroud, Orlando Sentinel, 5 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • This 24-hour dive near Uptown is for true degenerates looking to extend the party to unholy hours.
    David Hudnall, Kansas City Star, 28 Jan. 2025
  • At another point, a surface-to-air missile takes out a passenger airliner, something that really happened — but the attack is as purposeless here as the tragic original event, other than to remind us that Valet, who surveys the wreckage for valuables, is a degenerate.
    Boris Fishman, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • 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
Noun
  • The days of pandering to perverts and woke PFCs are over.
    Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 16 Feb. 2025
  • Another of the girls called Essex a pervert, which prompted their mother to ask more questions.
    Keri Blakinger, Los Angeles Times, 19 Dec. 2024
Noun
  • Jérémie stays on as a guest of the baker’s widow (Catherine Frot), but her son (Jean-Baptiste Durand) resents the prodigal’s return.
    Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 14 Mar. 2025
  • Instead, all the adulation is directed toward Charlotte’s prodigal adopted son, the guy who holds more than his share of team records and is considered by many to be the best player in franchise history.
    Roderick Boone, Charlotte Observer, 6 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • Start at the Edges of the Roof Assemble your roof rake, then start at one corner of the roof, placing the roof rake a couple of feet from the edge.
    Timothy Dale, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 Dec. 2024
  • Use a bow rake, with forged metal tines, to grade and smooth the terrain.
    Joshua Siskin, Orange County Register, 15 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • For example, default settings for focus time added blocking of sites in the categories Shopping, Tabloids, and Time wasters.
    PCMAG, PCMAG, 13 Jan. 2025
  • 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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Cite this Entry

“Profligate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/profligate. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.

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