prodigality
Americannoun
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the quality or fact of being prodigal; wasteful extravagance in spending.
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an instance of it.
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lavish abundance.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of prodigality
1300–50; Middle English prodigalite < Latin prōdigālitās wastefulness, equivalent to prōdig ( us ) extravagant + -āl ( is ) -al 1 + -itās -ity
Explanation
Prodigality is excessive or extravagant spending. Your friend may feel he needs those gold chairs for his living room, but to everyone else it’s another example of his prodigality. “Idleness is the greatest prodigality,” said Ben Franklin. He was probably right, but today prodigality is more often used to talk about spending monetary resources, as opposed to other kinds of resources. Prodigality does not merely refer to spending above your means. It’s excessive or wasteful spending, often with an eye toward the luxurious. Think of the Palace of Versailles, or that film star who owns ten expensive cars but doesn’t drive. Synonyms for prodigality include extravagance, profligacy, and lavishness.
Vocabulary lists containing prodigality
The Great Gatsby
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30 GRE Words Beginning with "P"
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Novel Study: The Great Gatsby, Chapters 1–6
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Prodigality is the spirit of the era," Social Critic Vance Packard declared in The Waste Makers 20 years ago.
From Time Magazine Archive
Prodigality, a vice opposed to liberality, 2427; sinfulness, 2428; comparison of avarice and prodigality, 2429.
From Moral Theology A Complete Course Based on St. Thomas Aquinas and the Best Modern Authorities by Callan, Charles Jerome
Statius had expiated his sins in the circle of Avarice, not for that vice, but for the opposite one of Prodigality.
From Stories from the Italian Poets: with Lives of the Writers, Volume 1 by Dante Alighieri
Prodigality reduced many a troubadour to the rank of a mere jongleur or hired musician.
From Women of Mediæval France Woman: in all ages and in all countries Vol. 5 (of 10) by Butler, Pierce
No matter, sir? but, by your crustship, ere you go, 'Tis a plain case, Prodigality will know: And therefore be round; come off, and tell me quickly.
From A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 8 by Hazlitt, William Carew
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
