as in extravagant
given to spending money freely or foolishly
my one wasteful child always seemed to run out of money by midweek
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of wasteful
Critics of the proposal, such as Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, have characterized film incentives as wasteful government spending, calling instead for the money to be used for property tax cuts.
—
Alex Driggars, Austin American Statesman, 30 July 2025
Regular spectators and celebrities criticized the flight, calling it wasteful and excessive.
—Daysia Tolentino, EW.com, 29 July 2025
DeSantis has boasted that the Florida Department of Government Efficiency task force would use AI to help discover wasteful spending in the state’s cities and counties, echoing billionaire Elon Musk’s use of the technology in the federal government’s DOGE efforts.
—Skyler Swisher, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 July 2025
This reflects a deeper pattern that leaders must be keen on: rapid tech adoption without sufficient integration or training is wasteful.
—Julian Hayes Ii, Forbes.com, 27 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for wasteful
Alex Driggars, Austin American Statesman, 30 July 2025
Regular spectators and celebrities criticized the flight, calling it wasteful and excessive.
—Daysia Tolentino, EW.com, 29 July 2025
DeSantis has boasted that the Florida Department of Government Efficiency task force would use AI to help discover wasteful spending in the state’s cities and counties, echoing billionaire Elon Musk’s use of the technology in the federal government’s DOGE efforts.
—Skyler Swisher, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 July 2025
This reflects a deeper pattern that leaders must be keen on: rapid tech adoption without sufficient integration or training is wasteful.
—Julian Hayes Ii, Forbes.com, 27 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for wasteful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wasteful
Adjective
-
It is woven not from extravagant ingredients or ornate presentations, but from resourcefulness, memory, and above all, love.—
Sami Tamimi
August 6,
Literary Hub,
6 Aug. 2025
-
According to Denver District Attorney, John Walsh $1.3 million of 300 investors’ money went to fund the pastor’s and his wife's extravagant lifestyle which included a home renovation, luxury handbags, cosmetic dentistry and a Range Rover.—
Steve Weisman,
Forbes.com,
2 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Dembele, once a creative, two-footed but profligate winger who Luis Enrique coached into a prolific striker, has not started any of the five Club World Cup games.—
Liam Tharme,
New York Times,
8 July 2025
-
Of course, the same folks who said Trump’s tariffs would cause runaway inflation also said Biden’s profligate spending wouldn’t cause inflation.—
E.J. Antoni,
Boston Herald,
13 July 2025
Adjective
-
In the most generous sense, that is what Palantir’s data analytics tools do: Allow users — mostly military and government agencies, but also private-sector companies — to better visualize large datasets.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN Money,
7 Aug. 2025
-
For most publishers, the grants are not generous enough to sustain an entire catalog, especially when compared to how tedious and time-consuming the application process is.—
Elizabeth Kaye Cook
August 6,
Literary Hub,
6 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Galle’s father worked for Marie Antoinette, but the French Revolution unsurprisingly had a major impact on the aristocratic market for spendthrift furnishings like this.—
Christopher Knight,
Los Angeles Times,
21 May 2024
-
Those could have been used to constrain distributions to or for the benefit of the spendthrift child.—
Martin Shenkman,
Forbes,
20 Feb. 2024
Adjective
-
In regular families, a prodigal son would have to reach out himself to try and arrange private time with his alienated father to hash out their differences.—
Martha Ross,
Mercury News,
15 July 2025
-
The 18-year-old prodigal Duke product ticks all the boxes as a rising superstar.—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
New York Times,
10 July 2025
Adjective
-
With real pressure from Washington, Addis Ababa and the Tigrayan administration should be able to marginalize the reckless factions that are seeking to exploit the situation—and finally bring to heel the Middle Eastern powers that have for too long enjoyed free rein to meddle in the Horn of Africa.—
Mulugeta Gebrehiwot Berhe,
Foreign Affairs,
5 Aug. 2025
-
But this season, he’s largely kept her in the dark about his reckless bid to construct a transnational railroad line.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
4 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
The 24-year-old man was charged with involuntary manslaughter, careless discharge causing death and a separate firearm charge, officials say.—
Mike Stunson,
Kansas City Star,
4 Aug. 2025
-
The plea deal dropped an additional charge of careless driving resulting in death from his case, court records show.—
Katie Langford,
Denver Post,
2 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
It is generally accepted in classical liberal economic thinking that the state should only intervene where there has been a market failure, i.e., where the free market is unable to produce a socially desirable outcome.—
Chris Deubert,
Forbes.com,
7 Aug. 2025
-
PiS accuse their liberal opponents of trying to subvert the will of the people and their supporters plan to march in the capital on inauguration day.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
6 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Wasteful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wasteful. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share