profligate

Word Origin & History

1520s, "overthrown, routed" (now obsolete in this sense), from Latin profligatus "destroyed, ruined, corrupt, abandoned, dissolute," past participle of profligare "to cast down, defeat, ruin," from pro- "down, forth" (see pro-) + fligere "to strike" (see afflict). Main modern meaning "recklessly extravagant" is 1779, via notion of "ruined by vice" (1640s, implied in a use of profligation). Related: Profligately. As a noun from 1709.

Example Sentences for profligate

The brilliant but profligate Buckingham is retained as prime minister.

Why, a profligate couldn't spend ten dollars a week here, if he tried.

He was reputed to be the paid lover of an exiled and profligate queen.

But we have some of it left, and we profligate rulers, as the workers call us, cherish it.

The imagination of a profligate cannot be other than depraved.

As a student, he was wild and profligate, though attentive to his studies.

We do not gain the high art of holding the good which we gain, so profligate are we.

Nay, have no suspicions as to my morality—I am no profligate.

But her husband was profligate, and he wasted her substance.

That is their shield and buckler, their defence against the attacks of the profligate.

profligate

lavish

lewd

libertine

libertine

licentious

loose

looser

overabundant

profligate

More words related to profligate

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improvident