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Definition of Prodigal
1. Adjective. Recklessly wasteful. "Prodigal in their expenditures"
Similar to: Wasteful
Derivative terms: Extravagance, Extravagance, Prodigality, Prodigality, Profligate
2. Noun. A recklessly extravagant consumer.
Generic synonyms: Consumer
Specialized synonyms: Scattergood, Spend-all, Spender, Spendthrift, Waster, Wastrel
Derivative terms: Profligate, Squander, Squander
Definition of Prodigal
1. a. 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.
2. n. One who expends money extravagantly, viciously, or without necessity; one that is profuse or lavish in any expenditure; a waster; a spendthrift.
Definition of Prodigal
1. Adjective. wastefully extravagant. ¹
2. Adjective. (often followed by of or with) someone yielding profusely, lavish ¹
3. Adjective. profuse, lavishly abundant ¹
4. Noun. A prodigal person, a spendthrift. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Prodigal
1. one who spends lavishly and foolishly [n -S]
Lexicographical Neighbors of Prodigal
Literary usage of Prodigal
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. Publishers Weekly by Publishers' Board of Trade (U.S.), Book Trade Association of Philadelphia, American Book Trade Union, Am. Book Trade Association, R.R. Bowker Company (1911)
"I have found The prodigal Judge most interesting, one of the best stories I have
... The prodigal Judge will be one of the biggest sellers of the year. ..."
2. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage by Inc. Merriam-Webster (1994)
"Sydney D. Bailey, 1950 It has also been used sometimes with as to or in: Masterfully
economical as to words, Mr. Saroyan is -. almost recklessly prodigal as ..."
3. The Antiquary by Edward Walford, John Charles Cox, George Latimer Apperson (1898)
"2) shows the prodigal sitting at a meal with his father and mother and some friend.
... Three young women are driving the prodigal out of a house. ..."
4. History of Spanish Literature by George Ticknor (1863)
"Another of these strange dramas is founded on the story The Prodi. • of the
prodigal Son, and is said to have been rep- g*i S°n. resented at Perpignan, ..."
5. The Bookman (1911)
"VI VAUGHAN KESTER'S "THE prodigal JUDGE"* ... has become the fashion to trace
influences, and The prodigal Judge, no *The prodigal Judge. By Vaughan Kester. ..."
6. A Complete Word and Phrase Concordance to the Poems and Songs of Robert by J. B. Reid (1889)
"'Till too, too soon the glowing west prodigal. How prodigal of time! ...
For prodigal thoughtless bestowing, О Man ! while in thy early years, His merit had ..."
7. Recreation by George O. Shields, American Canoe Association, League of American Sportsmen (1897)
"THE COWBOY'S VERSION OF THE prodigal SON. It was at the Camp Fire Club. We had
had our beefsteak and coffee, and story telling was in order. ..."
8. The Standard Oratorios: Their Stories, Their Music, and Their Composers; a by George Putnam Upton (1886)
""The prodigal Son," the first of Sullivan's oratorios, was written for the
Worcester Festival in England, and performed for the first time Sept. 8, 1869. ..."
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