Adjacent Words

Prodigal definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PROD'IGAL, a. [L. produgus, from prodigo, to drive forth, to lavish.]
1. Given to extravagant expenditures; expending money or other things without necessity; profuse, lavish; wasteful; not frugal or economical; as a prodigal man; the prodigal son. A man may be prodigal of his strength, of his health, of his life or blood, as well as of his money.
2. Profuse, lavish; expended to excess or without necessity; as prodigal expenses.
3. Very liberal; profuse. Nature is prodigal of her bounties.
PROD'IGAL, n. One that expends money extravagantly or without necessity; one that is profuse or lavish; a waster; a spendthrift.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: recklessly wasteful; "prodigal in their expenditures" [syn: extravagant, prodigal, profligate, spendthrift] n
1: a recklessly extravagant consumer [syn: prodigal, profligate, squanderer]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Latin prodigus, from prodigere to drive away, squander, from pro-, prod- forth + agere to drive — more at pro-, agent Date: 15th century 1. characterized by profuse or wasteful expenditure ; lavish <a prodigal feast> <prodigal outlays for her clothes> 2. recklessly spendthrift <the prodigal prince> 3. yielding abundantly ; luxuriant — often used with of <nature has been so prodigal of her bounty — H. T. Buckle> Synonyms: see profuse • prodigality noun • prodigally adverb II. noun Date: 1561 1. one who spends or gives lavishly and foolishly 2. one who has returned after an absence

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 recklessly wasteful. 2 (foll. by of) lavish. --n. 1 a prodigal person. 2 (in full prodigal son) a repentant wastrel, returned wanderer, etc. (Luke
15:11-32). Derivatives: prodigality n. prodigally adv. Etymology: med.L prodigalis f. L prodigus lavish

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Prodigal Prod"i*gal, a. [L. prodigus, from prodigere to drive forth, to squander away; pro forward, forth + agere to drive; cf. F. prodigue. See Agent. ] Given to extravagant expenditure; expending money or other things without necessity; recklessly or viciously profuse; lavish; wasteful; not frugal or economical; as, a prodigal man; the prodigal son; prodigal giving; prodigal expenses. In fighting fields [patriots] were prodigal of blood. --Dryden. Syn: Profuse; lavish; extravagant; squandering; wasteful. See Profuse.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Prodigal Prod"i*gal, n. One who expends money extravagantly, viciously, or without necessity; one that is profuse or lavish in any expenditure; a waster; a spendthrift. ``Noble prodigals of life.'' --Trench.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(prodigals) 1. You can describe someone as a prodigal son or daughter if they leave their family or friends, often after a period of behaving badly, and then return at a later time as a better person. (LITERARY) ADJ: usu ADJ n • Prodigal is also a noun. ...the prodigal had returned. N-COUNT 2. Someone who behaves in a prodigal way spends a lot of money carelessly without thinking about what will happen when they have none left. Prodigal habits die hard. ADJ: usu ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. Wasteful, lavish, extravagant, profuse. II. n. Spendthrift, waster, squanderer.

Moby Thesaurus

Adamic, abounding, abundant, affluent, aggrandized, alive with, all-sufficing, ample, amplified, aplenty, backsliding, ballyhooed, bibulous, big-time spender, bottomless, bounteous, bountiful, bristling, bursting, carnal, copious, crapulent, crapulous, crawling, crowded, crowding, diffuse, diffusive, disproportionate, dissipative, easy come, easy go, effuse, effusive, epidemic, erring, exaggerated, excessive, exhaustless, exorbitant, extravagant, extreme, exuberant, fallen, fat, fecund, fertile, fleshly, flush, formless, frail, full, galore, generous, gluttonous, grandiloquent, gushing, gushy, high-flown, hyperbolic, immoderate, improvident, impure, in plenty, in profusion, in quantity, incontinent, indulgent, inexhaustible, infirm, inflated, inordinate, intemperate, jam-packed, jammed, lapsed, lavish, liberal, lush, luxuriant, magnified, many, maximal, much, numerous, of easy virtue, opulent, overabundant, overbounteous, overcopious, overdone, overdrawn, overemphasized, overemphatic, overestimated, overexuberant, overflowing, overgenerous, overgreat, overindulgent, overindulging, overlarge, overlavish, overliberal, overluxuriant, overmuch, overnumerous, overplenteous, overplentiful, overplenty, overpopulated, overpopulous, overpraised, overprolific, oversold, overstated, overstressed, overwrought, packed, peccable, penny-wise and pound-foolish, plenitudinous, plenteous, plentiful, plenty, pleonastic, plethoric, populous, postlapsarian, pound-foolish, prevailing, prevalent, prodigal son, productive, profligate, profuse, profusive, proliferating, prolific, puffed, pullulating, rampant, recidivist, recidivistic, reckless, redundant, reiterative, repetitive, replete, rich, rife, riotous, running over, self-indulgent, spend-all, spender, spendthrift, squanderer, squandering, stretched, studded, sumptuous, superabundant, superlative, swarming, swinish, tautologous, teeming, thick, thick as hail, thick with, thick-coming, thriving, thronged, thronging, too much, touted, unangelic, unbridled, unchaste, unclean, unconstrained, uncontrolled, undisciplined, unfrugal, ungodly, ungood, unlimited, unmeasured, unrestrained, unrighteous, unsaintly, unthrifty, unvirtuous, virtueless, wanton, wasteful, waster, wastethrift, wastrel, wayward, weak, wealthy, well-found, well-furnished, well-provided, well-stocked, wholesale