prodigal

Pluralprodigals

1. 1
   wastefuladjective

   Extravagant in a wasteful way, especially in spending money or using up resources.

   Critics accused the mayor of prodigal spending on a stadium the city did not need.

   After three years of prodigal living in Paris, he had sold every painting his grandfather left him.

   UsageCommon pairings: prodigal spending, prodigal living.

   Similarlavish, squandering

   Oppositefrugal

   Note

   Squandering is in the word's bones: Latin prōdigus meant "wasteful", from prōdigō, "to squander", literally "to drive forth". It is the adjective of the prodigal son, who spent his share of an inheritance until he was destitute; the leaving and homecoming meaning grew from his story. A prodigal host is praised, but prodigal spending is blamed: in this sense the waste is the point, and the opposite is frugal. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • Latin prōdigus meant wasteful and derived from prōdigō, meaning to squander or drive forth. en.wiktionary.org
   • The prodigal son squandered his share of his father's property and became destitute. en.wikisource.org
   • The leaving and returning senses developed by allusion to the prodigal son's story. en.wiktionary.org
2. 2
   adjective

   Having left one's family, group, or beliefs to live in a way others disapprove of, especially when later returning with regret.

   The prodigal guitarist has come home: after five years of solo tours, he is rejoining the band for its reunion album.

   Years after storming out of the family bakery, the prodigal brother walked back in and apologized to everyone.

   UsageUsually with a return: the prodigal son returns, a prodigal daughter comes home.

   Note

   Repentance is common but optional: a 2012 Olympics live blog, relaying a sportswriter's tweet, reports that "the prodigal triple-jumper" has come home ahead of a qualification round, and CMAT's EURO-COUNTRY (2025) imagines going away only to return, prodigal in a religious frame.

3. 3
   a wasteful personnouncountable

   A person who spends money or uses resources recklessly and wastefully.

   Within a year of his inheritance, the quiet accountant had become a prodigal, buying boats he never sailed.

   Nightclub owners love prodigals who order champagne by the case and never look at the bill.

   Similarspendthrift, wastrel, profligate, squanderer, waster

   Oppositemiser, saver, skinflint

   Note

   Ben Jonson's Timber (1641) traces how one is made: a beggar who suddenly grows rich "commonly becomes a prodigal", putting on "riot and excess" to obscure his former obscurity. Shakespeare's Lucrece (1594) yokes the noun to its opposite in "the niggard prodigall", a husband's tongue that praised freely yet still fell short. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • Ben Jonson wrote Timber, first published in 1641. openlibrary.org
   • Timber describes a suddenly wealthy beggar becoming a prodigal and adopting riot and excess to obscure his former obscurity; both quoted phrases are accurate. gutenberg.org
   • William Shakespeare wrote Lucrece, published in 1594. internetshakespeare.uvic.ca
   • The phrase 'the niggard prodigall' describes the husband's tongue, whose praise Tarquin considers inadequate to Lucrece's beauty. internetshakespeare.uvic.ca
4. 4
   adjective

   Giving or producing something lavishly and freely, or present in great, lavish abundance.

   Known as a tough grader, the professor was surprisingly prodigal of praise in her letters of recommendation.

   A prodigal host, Marco kept refilling glasses long after his guests had begged him to stop.

   UsageCan be followed by of or with: prodigal of praise, prodigal with second helpings.

   Similarlavish, generous, liberal, profuse, unsparing

   Oppositesparing, stingy, miserly

   Note

   Here the word turns generous, and the preposition of or with usually introduces what is given: glad and prodigal of smiles, prodigal with money. James George Frazer's The Golden Bough has women prodigal of their attentions; James Herriot's Vet in Harness (1974) needs no preposition for a prodigal server who piles two pounds of meat on a plate. With money on a tight budget, the reproach of the wasteful meaning creeps back. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • James George Frazer's The Golden Bough describes women as prodigal of their attentions. gutenberg.org
   • James Herriot wrote Vet in Harness, first published in 1974. en.wikipedia.org
   • Vet in Harness uses 'prodigal server' without a following preposition and describes a serving of approximately two pounds of meat. en.wiktionary.org

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