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wastrel

[ wey-struh l ]
/ ˈweɪ strəl /
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR wastrel ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a wasteful person; spendthrift.
Chiefly British.
  1. refuse; waste.
  2. a waif; abandoned child.
  3. an idler or good-for-nothing.

RELATED WORDS

rake, vagrant, waster, idler, vagabond, spendthrift, profligate, squanderer

Nearby words

  1. wastewater,
  2. wasteweir,
  3. wasting,
  4. wasting asset,
  5. wastingly,
  6. wat,
  7. watap,
  8. watape,
  9. watauga,
  10. watch

Origin of wastrel

First recorded in 1580–90; waste + -rel
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for wastrel

British Dictionary definitions for wastrel

wastrel

/ (ˈweɪstrəl) /

noun

a wasteful person; spendthrift; prodigal
an idler or vagabond
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

Word Origin and History for wastrel

wastrel

n.

"spendthrift, idler," 1847, from waste (v.) + pejorative suffix -rel.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper