prodigality

American  

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

noun

• prodigalities
  plural

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

2. an instance of it.

3. lavish abundance.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• prodigalities
  plural

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

See Examples For:

prodigality prodigalities

The Void of Azuzel was originally designed to punish prodigality, avarice’s mirror image, and vanity, pride reflected back on itself.

From Slate ● Feb. 28, 2021

In point of extravagance and notoriety, the most celebrated of the feasts was that arranged by Tigellinus; which I shall describe as a type, instead of narrating time and again the monotonous tale of prodigality.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2019

And her most resourceful construction is the novel itself, a feat of narrative prodigality that staves off, word by word, the destruction of an entire community.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 15, 2015

“Great nations are never impoverished by private, though they sometimes are by public prodigality and misconduct.”

From Forbes ● Sep. 28, 2014

Laughter is easier, minute by minute, spilled with prodigality, tipped out at a cheerful word.

From " The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

He who knows how to turn his prodigalities to good account practices a large and noble economy.

From French Classics by William Cleaver Wilkinson

To see him, to participate in the succession of prodigalities, the surrounding country flocked there too.

From Imperial Purple by Edgar Saltus

Their readiness to pay was indefinably mingled with a dread of being expected to, and their prodigalities would take flight at the first hint of coercion.

From The Hermit and the Wild Woman by Edith Wharton

Antonius, on the other hand, had forfeited the esteem of the Romans by his prodigalities, by his Oriental affectations, and by his slavery to Cleopatra.

From Ancient States and Empires by John Lord

What with eccentricities, buffooneries, pranks, prodigalities, he ended by achieving a sort of celebrity.

From Life of St. Francis of Assisi by Louise Seymour Houghton