thriftless
Americanadjective
-
without thrift; improvident; wasteful.
-
Archaic. useless or pointless.
Other Word Forms
- thriftlessly adverb
- thriftlessness noun
Etymology
Origin of thriftless
Explanation
Someone who is thriftless is careless about spending and saving their money. If you spend all of your allowance on candy, week after week, you are thriftless. The adjective thriftless is the opposite of thrifty. When you're thrifty, you possess the quality of thrift, which means being careful about saving money and other resources. When you're thriftless, you lack this habit of thrift; you can see this in the suffix -less, which means "lacking." The good news is that you can cure yourself of being thriftless by getting in the habit of saving at least as much as you spend.
Vocabulary lists containing thriftless
"The Tragedy of Macbeth," Vocabulary from Act 2
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Novel Study: Macbeth, Acts 1–2
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Utopia
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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.
“I was in Albuquerque and it rained every day but no one collected the water,” one woman said in a scandalised tone, deflecting shame on to thriftless New Mexicans.
From The Guardian • Jul. 15, 2015
Nothing can pry them away from that; the City is what they want it to be: thriftless, warm, scary and full of amiable strangers.
From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison
She proved a prolific, thriftless woman and ill housekeeper, but through all the rubs and pinches of his after years he was ever an affectionate husband and father.
From Life of John Keats His Life and Poetry, his Friends, Critics and After-fame by Colvin, Sidney
If ever there was a poor, moithering, thriftless thing, it's that mother of yours.
From Trevlyn Hold by Wood, Mrs. Henry
But even in the wealthier abbeys we find traces of thriftless administration, idleness, self-indulgence and occasionally grave moral scandals.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 5 English History by Various
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.
