wasteful

[ weyst-fuh l ]

/ ˈweɪst fəl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR wasteful ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

given to or characterized by useless consumption or expenditure: wasteful methods; a wasteful way of life.

grossly extravagant; prodigal: a wasteful party.

devastating or destructive: wasteful war.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

waste pipe, waste product, waste well, wastebasket, wasted, wasteful, wasteland, wastelot, wastepaper, wastepaper basket, waster

Origin of wasteful

Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at waste, -ful

Related forms

waste·ful·ly, adverbwaste·ful·ness, nounun·waste·ful, adjectiveun·waste·ful·ly, adverb

un·waste·ful·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for wasteful

Two-thirds agree that “government is usually inefficient and wasteful.”
Hey, Boomers—Millennials Hate Your Partisan Crap|Nick Gillespie|July 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Though with budget cuts now looming, Congress is trying to gut some of those benefits while wasteful programs go untouched.
The U.S. Military Is a Socialist Paradise|Jacob Siegel|April 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The most interesting part of eccentricity may be just how wasteful it usually is.
The World According to an Eccentric|Justin Green|April 26, 2013|DAILY BEAST
If those 3s turn into 2's and 1's, then it will be clear that this whole program was a giant, wasteful mess.
Solyndra 2.0|Megan McArdle|April 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST

In search of wasteful government spending, Eric Cantor sets his pants on fire.
Sequester Misfire: Eric Cantor’s World of Warcraft Nonsense|John Avlon|February 25, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The first period resulted in a good deal of wasteful effort on both sides.
Center Rush Rowland|Ralph Henry Barbour
The vexatious and wasteful conflict between naturalism and humanism is terminated.
Reconstruction in Philosophy|John Dewey
In that wasteful day a timber-claim was not looked upon as valuable.
The Valley of the Giants|Peter B. Kyne
The tax-exempt organizations have a vested interest in the oppressive, inequitable, and wasteful federal-income-tax system.
The Invisible Government|Dan Smoot
To my mind, in the wasteful and blighting influences of slave labor there is a solemn and warning moral.
The Works of Whittier, Volume VII (of VII)|John Greenleaf Whittier

British Dictionary definitions for wasteful

wasteful

/ (ˈweɪstfʊl) /

adjective

tending to waste or squander; extravagant

causing waste, destruction, or devastation

Derived Forms

wastefully, adverbwastefulness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012