wastrel

noun

wast·​rel ˈwā-strəl 

 also  ˈwä-

1

: vagabond, waif

2

: one who expends resources foolishly and self-indulgently : profligate

Synonyms

• fritterer
• high roller
• prodigal
• profligate
• spender
• spendthrift
• squanderer
• waster

Examples of wastrel in a Sentence

the black sheep of the family, he ended up being a wastrel and a drunkard

Recent Examples on the Web

Casting is everything; Minghella arranges for his most handsome performer, Jude Law, to play Dickie Greenleaf, the wealthy wastrel whom Ripley (Matt Damon) slays and then seeks to replace. —Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 11 Apr. 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

Word History

Etymology

irregular from waste entry 2

First Known Use

circa 1841, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

wastrel

noun

wast·​rel ˈwā-strəl 

: spendthrift