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
Virginia Postrel, Boston Herald, 2 Sep. 2024
Germans were angry, too, resentful at bankrolling other people’s profligate ways.
—Robert Kagan, Foreign Affairs, 2 Apr. 2019
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 
Adjective
Americans have long been among the world’s most profligate tippers.
—Virginia Postrel, Boston Herald, 2 Sep. 2024
Germans were angry, too, resentful at bankrolling other people’s profligate ways.
—Robert Kagan, Foreign Affairs, 2 Apr. 2019
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
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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.Ari Plachta, Sacramento Bee, 17 Jan. 2025
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Draws at home to Southampton in November (1-1) and at Leicester in December (2-2) were wasteful, especially in the latter case when a 2-0 lead was relinquished late on.Andy Naylor, The Athletic, 16 Jan. 2025
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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Another of the girls called Essex a pervert, which prompted their mother to ask more questions.Keri Blakinger, Los Angeles Times, 19 Dec. 2024
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The imagery is intended to mock and reflect modern Japan in some way — from the overworked salarymen gleefully staging suicidal leaps off of buildings to the schoolgirls (who, in the dream, have cell phones for heads) exposing themselves to perverts (who also have cell phones for heads).Eric Vilas-Boas, Vulture, 28 Sep. 2024
Noun
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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
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After all, there’s always one prodigal — one unstable element who’s removed themself as far as possible from the precarious family mixture.Sara Holdren, Vulture, 21 Nov. 2024
Noun
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The company has also given more than 300 wildfire response items including gloves, goggles, boots, respirators, shovels, rakes, axes, smoke pumps, sifters, and medical items for burns and heat.Dade Hayes, Deadline, 13 Jan. 2025
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Every week or so, rake leaves away from the stems and add them to your compost pile.Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Sep. 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 21 Jan. 2025.
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