as in wasteful
given to spending money freely or foolishly
profligate movie producers hoping to create the next blockbuster
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of profligate
Erik Morse, Vogue, 26 June 2025
Nothing better illustrates this than the profligate spending plan that Gov. Gavin Newsom got approved in June 2022.
—U T Editorial Board, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 June 2025
WSJ, 14 Sep. 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
European cinema helped to produce much of summer noir’s lexicon of themes, settings, and archetypes: Its fascination with the storied decadence of the leisure class—and the profligate rituals of the seasonal tourist—appeared in earlier film satires by Jean Renoir and Jacques Tati.
—Erik Morse, Vogue, 26 June 2025
Nothing better illustrates this than the profligate spending plan that Gov. Gavin Newsom got approved in June 2022.
—U T Editorial Board, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 June 2025
Noun
The monarchy and the British government, which provides significant financial support for the institution, have long faced a careful balancing act: Both have worked to maintain the pomp and circumstance of the institution while avoiding looking profligate.
—WSJ, 14 Sep. 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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Paul Taylor What the data says Forest’s Champions League push collapsed last season after wasteful finishing, and that profligacy has carried over into the new campaign.—
Chris Weatherspoon,
New York Times,
31 Oct. 2025
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But dishcloths are less wasteful and very easy to clean and reuse.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
29 Oct. 2025
Noun
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When measured by budget deficit – the gap between government spending and revenue – France is also among the most spendthrift in the European Union, according to Eurostat, the bloc’s statistics office.—
Ana Nicolaci da Costa,
CNN Money,
8 Oct. 2025
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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
Noun
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Once Gacy is caught, the media runs with the details — all those bodies crammed in that crawlspace, some of them buried in trenches Gacy made his employees dig out — and paints his victims as runaways or degenerates who put themselves in danger.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
16 Oct. 2025
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Created by Rob Mac (formerly McElhenney, who also plays the character Mac), the Emmy-deserving series premiered 20 years ago on Aug. 4, 2005, introducing the world to a gang of morally bankrupt degenerates running the least successful bar in Philly, Paddy's Pub.—
James Mercadante,
EW.com,
4 Aug. 2025
Noun
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He was raised on Chicago’s North Side by a wastrel father and a mother who struggled to put food on their table.—
Ron Grossman,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Aug. 2025
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Ridley, traumatized by the cancer death of her mother and considered mostly a wastrel by those around her for pursuing a degree in the dread-inducing major of art history, knows a thing or two about the mythology behind these kindly rainbow-spewing creatures.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
12 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The Gooneral’s attendees didn’t care that Malone was, from all available evidence, not a gooner at all but rather an unaffiliated, lone-wolf pervert.—
Daniel Kolitz,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
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Boiled down to a thoughtless pervert by the public, Six became one.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
21 Aug. 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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The libertines will begin the film in suits.—
David Wingrave,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Expect all the typical big-spenders to get involved here.—
Zach Pressnell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Oct. 2025
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For the survey, Oxford Road polled 75 marketers on the buy side, including six of the top 10 spenders in podcasting.—
Caitlin Huston,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Profligate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/profligate. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.
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