# prodigal

Pronunciation: US say "PRAH-di-guhl" /ˈpɹɑdɪɡəl/; UK say "PROD-i-guhl" /ˈpɹɒdɪɡəl/

## Adjective

1. Extravagant in a wasteful way, especially in spending money or using up resources.
   - Simple: Spending too much money or using too much of something, in a wasteful way.
   - _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._
2. Having left one's family, group, or beliefs to live in a way others disapprove of, especially when later returning with regret.
   - Simple: Having left your family, group, or beliefs, often coming back later and feeling sorry you went.
   - _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._
4. Giving or producing something lavishly and freely, or present in great, lavish abundance.
   - Simple: Giving a lot of something very freely, or having a very large amount of something.
   - _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._

## Noun

3. A person who spends money or uses resources recklessly and wastefully.
   - Simple: A person who wastes money or other things by spending them carelessly.
   - _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._

## Origin

Latin prōd- (from prō, "before, forward") and agō ("to drive") formed prōdigō ("to consume, squander, drive forth"), which gave prōdigus ("wasteful, lavish") and Late Latin prōdigālis ("wasteful"). Middle French prodigal passed it to English. See also prodigy.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/prodigal (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).