prodigality
Americannoun
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the quality or fact of being prodigal; wasteful extravagance in spending.
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an instance of it.
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lavish abundance.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing prodigality
The Great Gatsby
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30 GRE Words Beginning with "P"
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Novel Study: The Great Gatsby, Chapters 1–6
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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.
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
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.
