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 Congressional Republicans called the expenditure wasteful and the secretive project fueled more suspicions about its necessity, according to the historical association. Bart Jansen, USA Today, 24 Oct. 2025 Trump has previously criticized the subsidies as wasteful. Darin Oswald, Idaho Statesman, 24 Oct. 2025 In 1944, Republicans called the construction of an underground bunker and offices within the East Wing wasteful and accused FDR of using the White House makeover to improve his image, the WHHA said on its website. Ryan Mancini, The Hill, 24 Oct. 2025 Whether text tokens are wasteful and just terrible at the input. Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for wasteful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wasteful
Adjective
  • Gather with friends and while away the afternoon with magically spiked concoctions — whether sipping a Jasmine Peach or Cucumber Mint Mystic Tea — and extravagant savory and sweet treats.
    Kathryn Streeter, USA Today, 24 Oct. 2025
  • Andrew later invited the couple back to Windsor in 2006 for his daughter Princess Beatrice’s extravagant 18th birthday ball, according to Britain’s The Sun on Sunday newspaper.
    Lauren Said-Moorhouse, CNN Money, 22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • 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
  • 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
Adjective
  • Costanzo said Ferrante was generous and gave him a favorable rights deal to attempt an adaptation.
    Zac Ntim, Deadline, 2 Nov. 2025
  • The service was crisp, the portions were highly generous (don’t miss the breakfast buffet).
    Jacqui Gifford, Travel + Leisure, 31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • It would be accompanied by state audits into how spendthrift local governments overcharge for roads, school construction and parks.
    Stephen Moore, Boston Herald, 19 Sep. 2025
  • Thanks to money-hungry special interests and spendthrift leaders, Californians pay among the highest corporate, sales, gas and income taxes in the nation.
    The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 9 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Cinema’s prodigal daughter, Paltrow did not bother to Google Timothée Chalamet before starring alongside him in Josh Safdie’s upcoming sports drama Marty Supreme, her first major non-Marvel movie in a decade.
    Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 15 Oct. 2025
  • And maybe, for that offense, and for so many other protests, the Embassy would refuse to help Daria, its prodigal daughter.
    Catherine Lacey, New Yorker, 5 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Critics lambasted those policies as impractical at best, reckless at worst.
    Philip Elliott, Time, 5 Nov. 2025
  • These reckless policies have deadly consequences.
    Dan Gooding, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • He was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital and was later issued a summons for no insurance, careless driving and leaving the scene of an accident, officials said.
    Sam Gillette, PEOPLE, 5 Nov. 2025
  • Jenkins’ fumble was due to careless ball-handling, although two members of his offensive line got bull-rushed, leading to the pressure.
    Walter Villa, Miami Herald, 30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • From the perspective of a world of increasingly unimaginable maldistribution of resources, cascading ecological collapse, a genocide cheered on by a putatively liberal order, both are barbarisms.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 7 Nov. 2025
  • Rodriguez is running in the 21st Assembly District, which is also leans more liberal after the 2024 adoption of new electoral maps.
    Molly Beck, jsonline.com, 6 Nov. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Wasteful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wasteful. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on wasteful

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!