as in spendthrift
someone who spends money freely or foolishly
he's a spender and she's a tightwad, so naturally they quarrel about money a lot
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Recent Examples of spender
As such, the economy’s reliance on a small cohort of spenders is rising.
—
Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 1 Mar. 2026
Putting rank-and-file executives aside, the wealthiest spenders in the corporate world still owe their allegiance to the GOP.
—Robert Schmad, The Washington Examiner, 27 Feb. 2026
Washington remains the world’s largest military spender, at 36% of global spending last year, a new report found.
—Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 25 Feb. 2026
Top spender Uber — along with its Postmates subsidiary — funded more than $70 million out of the total $205 million the winning campaign.
—Levi Sumagaysay, Mercury News, 24 Feb. 2026
The New York Mets and the Toronto Blue Jays were among baseball’s top spenders this offseason.
—Katie Woo, New York Times, 15 Feb. 2026
These sold their products, procured supplies and luxury goods, and wrote mortgages on their plantations and slaves when spenders like Thomas Jefferson lived beyond their means.
—Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 15 Feb. 2026
Only a small slice of users are both top consumers and top spenders—so scale alone won’t save you.
—Martin Moszkowicz, Deadline, 14 Feb. 2026
But not all childless people are spenders.
—Medora Lee, USA Today, 4 Feb. 2026
Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 1 Mar. 2026
Putting rank-and-file executives aside, the wealthiest spenders in the corporate world still owe their allegiance to the GOP.
—Robert Schmad, The Washington Examiner, 27 Feb. 2026
Washington remains the world’s largest military spender, at 36% of global spending last year, a new report found.
—Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 25 Feb. 2026
Top spender Uber — along with its Postmates subsidiary — funded more than $70 million out of the total $205 million the winning campaign.
—Levi Sumagaysay, Mercury News, 24 Feb. 2026
The New York Mets and the Toronto Blue Jays were among baseball’s top spenders this offseason.
—Katie Woo, New York Times, 15 Feb. 2026
These sold their products, procured supplies and luxury goods, and wrote mortgages on their plantations and slaves when spenders like Thomas Jefferson lived beyond their means.
—Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 15 Feb. 2026
Only a small slice of users are both top consumers and top spenders—so scale alone won’t save you.
—Martin Moszkowicz, Deadline, 14 Feb. 2026
But not all childless people are spenders.
—Medora Lee, USA Today, 4 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spender
Noun
-
The split screen of Bezos and his spendthrift wife, Lauren Sánchez, frolicking everywhere — including Paris Fashion Week — while the tech mogul defiles the crown jewel nurtured by Ben Bradlee and Kay Graham is sickening.—
Maureen Dowd,
Mercury News,
3 Feb. 2026
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That is all the more reason the state must get a better handle on its spendthrift ways.—
The Editorial Board,
Oc Register,
13 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Start with your biggest time waster and build from there.—
Jodie Cook,
Forbes.com,
23 Jan. 2026
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
Twenty-six James Bond films (the 25 Eon joints, plus the prodigal Never Say Never Again) are coming to Netflix this month.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
2 Jan. 2026
-
Secrets are revealed, prodigals return, intolerances surface and family bonds are tested.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
17 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Spender.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spender. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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