as in spendthrift
someone who spends money freely or foolishly
the black sheep of the family, he ended up being a wastrel and a drunkard
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of wastrel
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
The aforementioned wastrel friend, now a drug dealer, asks Mike to do him a favor: Deliver a briefcase of pot to a hotel room.
—Time, 11 Aug. 2023
The always-entertaining Bruce Turk steals all his scenes as Ranevskaya’s spoiled and wastrel brother, Leonid Gayev.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Mar. 2023
Selby is a wastrel with a criminal past, yet his mother keeps providing him with soft places to fall.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 3 Mar. 2023
See All Example Sentences for wastrel
Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 27 Aug. 2024
The aforementioned wastrel friend, now a drug dealer, asks Mike to do him a favor: Deliver a briefcase of pot to a hotel room.
—Time, 11 Aug. 2023
The always-entertaining Bruce Turk steals all his scenes as Ranevskaya’s spoiled and wastrel brother, Leonid Gayev.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Mar. 2023
Selby is a wastrel with a criminal past, yet his mother keeps providing him with soft places to fall.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 3 Mar. 2023
See All Example Sentences for wastrel
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wastrel
Noun
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Their spending habits were that of a spendthrift, and there was only one parent really making any income.—
R29 Team,
Refinery29,
10 Sep. 2025
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Republicans should make liberals justify their own spendthrift ways, rather than playing defense.—
Erick Erickson,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 July 2025
Noun
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Secrets are revealed, prodigals return, intolerances surface and family bonds are tested.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
17 Apr. 2025
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The food today is extraordinarily good and prodigal.—
Jeff Kleinman,
Miami Herald,
1 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Show me exactly how to reorganize my day to focus on growth drivers first, which of my tasks are secretly time-wasters dressed as important work, and how to say no to everything else.—
Jodie Cook,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
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For example, default settings for focus time added blocking of sites in the categories Shopping, Tabloids, and Time wasters.—
PCMAG,
PCMAG,
13 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Heavy discounting from the likes of Burberry and Gucci in the past has left them struggling to regain their status among high spenders.—
Karen Gilchrist,
CNBC,
11 Sep. 2025
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Compared to some of the more extravagant spenders on The Forbes 400—such as Larry Ellison buying an entire Hawaiian island or Mark Zuckerberg taking over half of Palo Alto—Musk isn’t much into real estate these days.—
John Hyatt,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Wastrel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wastrel. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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