spendthrift

American  

[spend-thrift] / ˈspɛndˌθrɪft /

noun

• spendthrifts
  plural

1. a person who spends possessions or money extravagantly or wastefully; prodigal.

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adjective

1. wastefully extravagant; prodigal.

   Synonyms:

   profligate, improvident, wasteful

spendthrift British  

/ ˈspɛndˌθrɪft /

noun

1. a person who spends money in an extravagant manner

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adjective

1. (usually prenominal) of or like a spendthrift

   spendthrift economies

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• spendthrifts
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of spendthrift

First recorded in 1595–1605; spend + thrift

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Explanation

A spendthrift person is reckless and wasteful with his money. If you're a spendthrift, you might find yourself in debt. However, it might be fun to have a spendthrift friend who likes to treat you to expensive lunches and lavish gifts. Spendthrift was created by sticking two opposite words together: spend and thrift, which means “savings, wealth.” So a spendthrift spends all of his savings. Spendthrift people are the worst nightmare of retirement planners and Scrooges all over the globe. So unless you want to be called a spendthrift, think twice about your next purchase.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spendthrift spendthrifts

Yardeni Research President Ed Yardeni said Thursday that the results offer the “latest evidence that consumers have continued their spendthrift ways.”

From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026

Some courts may be less willing to extend trust protections in such cases, though courts do not routinely pierce spendthrift protections simply because the underlying conduct of a beneficiary was wrongful.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 16, 2026

No one today any longer wishes to hear jokes about nagging mothers-in-law, spendthrift wives or old jalopies, and the men and women who once told them to hardy plaudits are now forgotten.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025

Trusts also allow you to put restrictions on how money is spent, which can be important if your heir is a minor child, a spendthrift or someone reliant on public benefits.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2024

These visits to the zoo holding on to the hand of some conceited spendthrift suitor gave her a lifelong horror of enclosures, walls, cages, and isolation.

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende

I will uphold his wishes, but if I outlive him and there’s no agreement in place, I would likely give little to nothing to his children because they are irresponsible spendthrifts.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 16, 2026

Two curmudgeonly old rivals, reclusive spendthrifts, are marching toward a showdown that a lot of people really wish wasn’t happening.

From New York Times ● Jan. 31, 2024

For many spendthrifts, these platforms are not a mentally safe space.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 5, 2021

I heard my generation was full of squanderers and spendthrifts, but this really does take the avocado.

From The Guardian ● May 25, 2018

Those born during a period of financial prosperity are likely to be liberal, sometimes wasteful, and, possibly, spendthrifts.

From What a Young Husband Ought to Know by Sylvanus Stall

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