prodigality

American  

[prod-i-gal-i-tee] / ˌprɒd ɪˈgæl ɪ ti /

noun

plural

prodigalities

1. the quality or fact of being prodigal; wasteful extravagance in spending.

2. an instance of it.

3. lavish abundance.

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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.

Example Sentences

"Prodigality is the spirit of the era," Social Critic Vance Packard declared in The Waste Makers 20 years ago.

From Time Magazine Archive

Therefore charge her, in the name of Prodigality, That he be restor'd to me incontinently, Lest she repent it— VAN.

From A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 8 by Hazlitt, William Carew

Therefore at a venture, my dear son Money, I do commit you unto Prodigality.

From A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 8 by Hazlitt, William Carew

Prodigality is less sinful than avarice, because it is less removed from liberality, less harmful to self and others, and less difficult to cure.

From Moral Theology A Complete Course Based on St. Thomas Aquinas and the Best Modern Authorities by Callan, Charles Jerome

It is recorded that Queen Elizabeth, in 1601, then an old woman, witnessed one of these plays, entitled "The Contention between Liberality and Prodigality."

From English Literature, Considered as an Interpreter of English History Designed as a Manual of Instruction by Coppee, Henry