as in corruption
immoral conduct or practices harmful or offensive to society
a religious leader who railed against the profligacy of the nation's decadent aristocrats
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of profligacy
The United States can sustain the eye-popping profligacy of its national debt only because investors consider the U.S. dollar to be a safe haven.
—
Kori Schake, Foreign Affairs, 24 June 2025
Modern Paris is an elegant monument to Haussmann’s profligacy; he was fired for spending stupefying sums of public money to force it up like winter tulips.
—Caity Weaver, The Atlantic, 5 June 2025
If there’s another deficit, as seems likely, candidates who spent the past year preaching frugality will fare better than those pushing profligacy.
—John Seiler, Oc Register, 31 May 2025
Growing critics would argue his place is uncertain and his profligacy in front of goal has returned to levels pre-Unai Emery.
—Jacob Tanswell, The Athletic, 5 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for profligacy
Kori Schake, Foreign Affairs, 24 June 2025
Modern Paris is an elegant monument to Haussmann’s profligacy; he was fired for spending stupefying sums of public money to force it up like winter tulips.
—Caity Weaver, The Atlantic, 5 June 2025
If there’s another deficit, as seems likely, candidates who spent the past year preaching frugality will fare better than those pushing profligacy.
—John Seiler, Oc Register, 31 May 2025
Growing critics would argue his place is uncertain and his profligacy in front of goal has returned to levels pre-Unai Emery.
—Jacob Tanswell, The Athletic, 5 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for profligacy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for profligacy
Noun
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Now its economy has collapsed under the weight of corruption, mismanagement, human rights violations and other woes.—
Diane Brady,
Fortune,
29 Oct. 2025
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That’s what happened in October 2019, when demonstrations against corruption and high unemployment broke out across Iraq, leading to street clashes that left hundreds of people dead.—
Robert F. Worth,
The Atlantic,
28 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Even aside from Trump’s own enthusiastic personal immorality and impiety, his political style — the pugnacious smear artist and demagogic braggart — was the antithesis of what evangelicals had sought before.—
Chris Stirewalt,
The Hill,
23 Sep. 2025
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Hank isn’t being accused of mere immorality, after all; he’s being accused of rape, which was also a crime back in Kierkegaard’s days.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
29 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Taken together, these triumphal and tragic elements constitute the ingredients for an epic historical narrative that defies all moralistic categories, a story rooted in the coexistence of grandeur and failure, brilliance and blindness, grace and sin.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Oct. 2025
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In an era of 51st-state tensions, there’s something psychically fitting about Canada, America’s top hat, being used to reenact so many of America’s sins.—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Another classic Halloween costume with plenty of room for creativity is the infamous evil clown, Joker (Joaquin Phoenix).—
Emma Kershaw,
PEOPLE,
27 Oct. 2025
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The Bible never calls wine evil – only the overindulgence of it.—
Lauren Green,
FOXNews.com,
26 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Profligacy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/profligacy. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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