profligacy
Americannoun
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shameless dissoluteness.
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reckless extravagance.
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great abundance.
Etymology
Origin of profligacy
First recorded in 1730–40; proflig(ate) + -acy
Explanation
If your life is built on the search for reckless, sensual pleasure with no thought of possible consequences, then you are living a life of profligacy, and probably spending a lot of money to get it. How wasteful! The idea of a loose, dissipated life, is seen in the noun profligacy, which comes from the Latin prōflīgātus, meaning "corrupt or dissolute." It's been said Americans live in a state of profligacy with regard to petroleum use, wasting it in the manufacture of everything from water bottles to nail polish to traffic cones. Someday this profligacy will catch up to us, however. With rising gasoline prices, perhaps it already has!
Vocabulary lists containing profligacy
Power Suffix: -acy
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The Picture of Dorian Gray
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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.
Long-dated yields have been climbing amid a toxic mix of fiscal profligacy, a capital spending boom for the ages in artificial intelligence and geopolitical pressures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
The Scots, crippled by a deadly combo of profligacy and self destruction, needed snookers.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
The bond vigilantes, as first coined by Wall Street veteran Ed Yardeni, sniff out government largess, corporate profligacy, geopolitical tremors, and inflation risks long before other financial assets and respond in kind.
From Barron's ● Dec. 24, 2025
AI companies are losing money at an epic pace, and the reasons go deeper than mere profligacy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2025
The rope received the flame greedily; the transports of greed were succeeded by the profligacy of utmost generosity; and soon the whole store partook.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
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.
