profligacy

prof·li·ga·cy | \ ˈprä-fli-gə-sē

How to pronounce profligacy (audio)

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Definition of profligacy

: the quality or state of being profligate

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Examples of profligacy in a Sentence

a religious leader who railed against the profligacy of the nation's decadent aristocrats

Recent Examples on the Web Some leeway The finance minister relaxed fiscal deficit targets but there was no profligacy. — Pramod Mathew, Quartz India, "Despite a bruising slowdown, India goes for a cautious annual budget," 1 Feb. 2020 But that doesn’t justify the profligacy of Trump and the Republicans in Congress. — John Cassidy, The New Yorker, "New Reports Show That Trump’s Economic Promises Were Empty," 31 Jan. 2020 All this is quite a change for many Republicans, who once accused Mr Obama of profligacy, but now say that trillion-dollar deficits are no big deal. — The Economist, "The great Treasuries binge Investors at home and abroad are piling into American government debt," 25 Jan. 2020 In other words: Is this helicopter money? Slashing the government’s take from corporate profits to 25.2% from 34.9% has given a boost to stock-market sentiment, while simultaneously seeding fresh doubts about fiscal profligacy in the bond market. — Washington Post, "India Sends Up the Monetary Helicopters," 24 Sep. 2019 In general, Asians don’t eat much animal-milk cheese, and aren’t fans of fruity olive oil, so grating Gruyère, for example, on a pho doesn’t cut it; but profligacy with greens and crunchy nuts sure works. — Bill St. John, The Denver Post, "Get Cooking: Finishing soups," 18 Dec. 2019 Nations other than France have a reputation for profligacy. — Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, "Why Isn’t Macron an Illiberal Pinup?," 26 Sep. 2019 Yet to her supporters, her profligacy only seems to fortify her promises of being their benefactor. — Y.f., The Economist, "“The Kingmaker” documents the rise, fall and rise of Imelda Marcos," 7 Nov. 2019 While Rosselló has clashed with the board over the budget, such conflicts only underscored Puerto Ricans’ feelings of powerlessness and contempt for politicians whose profligacy drove the territory into ruin. — Michael Deibert, BostonGlobe.com, "Puerto Rico’s governor poised to resign amid ongoing protests," 24 July 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'profligacy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

14 Feb 2020

Cite this Entry

“Profligacy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/profligacy. Accessed 17 Feb. 2020.

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