PRODIGAL
Dictionary entry overview: What does prodigal mean?
• PRODIGAL (noun)
The noun PRODIGAL has 1 sense:
1. a recklessly extravagant consumer
Familiarity information: PRODIGAL used as a noun is very rare.
• PRODIGAL (adjective)
The adjective PRODIGAL has 3 senses:
1. very generous
2. recklessly wasteful
3. marked by rash extravagance
Familiarity information: PRODIGAL used as an adjective is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
• PRODIGAL (noun)
Meaning:
A recklessly extravagant consumer
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Synonyms:
prodigal; squanderer; profligate
Hypernyms ("prodigal" is a kind of...):
consumer (a person who uses goods or services)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "prodigal"):
scattergood; spend-all; spender; spendthrift (someone who spends money prodigally)
waster; wastrel (someone who dissipates resources self-indulgently)
• PRODIGAL (adjective)
Meaning:
Very generous
Synonyms:
unstinting; unstinted; unsparing; too-generous; prodigal; overgenerous; munificent; lavish
Context examples:
distributed gifts with a lavish hand / the critics were lavish in their praise / a munificent gift / his father gave him a half-dollar and his mother a quarter and he thought them munificent / prodigal praise / unsparing generosity / his unstinted devotion / called for unstinting aid to Britain
Similar:
generous (willing to give and share unstintingly)
Meaning:
Recklessly wasteful
Synonyms:
profligate; spendthrift; extravagant; prodigal
Context example:
prodigal in their expenditures
Similar:
wasteful (tending to squander and waste)
Meaning:
Marked by rash extravagance
Context example:
led a prodigal life
Similar:
improvident (not provident; not providing for the future)
