wastrel

American  

[wey-struhl] / ˈweɪ strəl /

noun

1. a wasteful person; spendthrift.

   The wastrel had squandered his inheritance, and then came to her, looking for a handout.

2. Chiefly British.

   1. refuse; waste.

   2. a waif; abandoned child.

   3. an idler or good-for-nothing.

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wastrel British  

/ ˈweɪstrəl /

noun

1. a wasteful person; spendthrift; prodigal

2. an idler or vagabond

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Etymology

Origin of wastrel

First recorded in 1580–90; waste + -rel

Explanation

Your brother who spends money as quickly as he gets it, always wearing new clothes and taking friends out for expensive dinners? You might call him a wastrel, meaning he spends his money foolishly. The word wastrel looks and sounds like waste, which means, as a verb, "to spend or use carelessly" — as a noun, it's the thing that is not used effectively. A wastrel is someone who tends to waste things, careless with anything from money to time, and everything else, too. You can tell wastrels by behavior like running the water while brushing their teeth or spending every dime they have on ice cream and luxurious sweaters.

Example Sentences

And so on, past Mother Ross's shop, past the Sylvester Arms, to the right by Kirby's smithy, over the Wastrel by the Haughs, to await his master at the edge of the Stony Bottom.

From Bob, Son of Battle by Ollivant, Alfred

I'm thinking that the Wastrel was one day a celebrated professional; and the women were partly the cause of his fall.

From The Ragged Edge by MacGrath, Harold

One night, some six months after the wreck of the Wastrel, when the skies were serene again I found myself more than ordinarily adrift on the tide of imagination.

From The Portal of Dreams by Buck, Charles Neville

The Wastrel wiped the blood from his forehead.

From The Ragged Edge by MacGrath, Harold

"The Wastrel seemed to take it all right."

From The Ragged Edge by MacGrath, Harold