wasteful
Americanadjective
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given to or characterized by useless consumption or expenditure.
wasteful methods; a wasteful way of life.
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grossly extravagant; prodigal.
a wasteful party.
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devastating or destructive.
wasteful war.
adjective
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tending to waste or squander; extravagant
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causing waste, destruction, or devastation
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of wasteful
Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at waste, -ful
Explanation
Someone who's wasteful uses and disposes of things carelessly. A wasteful child might eat two bites of yogurt and then throw the rest of the container away. You can be wasteful with your money, spending too much of it on unimportant things. Some people are wasteful with food, ordering too much at a restaurant and leaving most of it on the plate. It's possible to be wasteful with almost anything that you squander without thinking about, including electricity or heat or even your own creative energy. The Latin root of waste is vastus, "empty or desolate."
Vocabulary lists containing wasteful
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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.
That could make advanced tools less wasteful and more economical while preserving the extreme hardness required for industrial use.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026
"We should be spending on capex as fast as we can spend... without it being too wasteful," Musk said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
There was a lull in the South Africa scoring as Wales battled to hang on and the hosts proved unusually wasteful in the tourists' 22.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Early in his career, most albums were sold in two versions, mono and a more-expensive stereo format—a practice he described as expensive and wasteful in his autobiography.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
The neighbors thought it broad-minded, if wasteful, that he set them free.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
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.
