prodigal means wastefully extravagant.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, prodigal ranks #2,308 of 14,431 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #2,328 of 14,438 for Most Storied Words, #2,350 of 14,448 for Most Incisive Words, #2,356 of 14,297 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words.
prodigal is pronounced /ˈpɹɒdɪɡəl/.
Why “prodigal” is a great word
Wastefully or recklessly extravagant in expenditure. From Middle French *prodigal*, from Late Latin *prōdigālis* (“wasteful”), from Latin *prōdigus* (“wasteful, lavish”), from *prōdigō* (“to consume, squander”), from *prōd-* (variant of *prō*, “forward”) + *agō* (“to drive”)—to drive resources forward with compulsive haste. Unlike “frugal,” which implies careful stewardship, or “profligate,” which suggests dissolute corruption, “prodigal” centers on the heedless, kinetic act of dispersal. It is the heir who empties the cellar of port to impress strangers, the banknotes fed to a campfire, the banquet left to rot under a velvet sky—a squandering so complete it almost achieves a kind of tragic grandeur.
Etymology
From Middle French prodigal, from Late Latin prōdigālis (“wasteful”), from Latin prōdigus (“wasteful, lavish, prodigal”), from prōdigō (“to consume, squander, drive forth”), from prōd- [from prō (“before, forward”)] + agō (“to drive”). Also see unrelated prodigy.
The senses of "abandoning a person or cause" and "returning after abandonment" are by allusion to the New Testament story commonly called "The Parable of the Prodigal Son", Luke 15:11–32. See prodigal son.
adj
- Wastefully extravagant.“He found himself guilty of prodigal spending during the holidays.”
- Yielding profusely, lavish.“She was a merry person, glad and prodigal of smiles.”
- Profuse, lavishly abundant.“Goe binde thou vp vond dangling Apricocks, / Which like vnruly Children, make their Syre / Stoupe with oppreſſion of their prodigall weight:”
- Behaving as a prodigal son:; Having (selfishly) abandoned a person, group, or ideal.
- Behaving as a prodigal son:; Returning or having returned, especially repentantly, after such an abandonment.“Simon Hart of the Daily Telegraph has tweeted that the prodigal triple-jumper has come home, in preparation for tomorrow's qualification round.”
noun
- A prodigal person; a spendthrift; a wastrel.“Now thinkes he that her husbands ſhallow tongue, / The niggard prodigall that praiſde her ſo: / In that high task hath done her Beauty wrong.”
Words closest in meaning
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