prodigality
/prodigality/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun: 1. The quality or fact of being extravagant or wasteful with money or resources: Prodigality refers to the characteristic of spending or using things in an excessively lavish, wasteful, or reckless manner, often beyond what is reasonable or necessary. 2. Extravagant abundance or profusion: In a more literary sense, it can describe an overflowing or lavish abundance of something.
Usage
Prodigality is a formal noun, typically used in contexts discussing finance, economics, character traits, or criticism of wastefulness. It describes a habitual tendency or a specific instance of excessive expenditure.
Examples
- His prodigality with the company's budget eventually led to its bankruptcy.
- The feast was an exercise in sheer prodigality, with enough food for five hundred guests.
- She criticized the government's prodigality in funding unnecessary projects.
- The novel's descriptions are marked by a linguistic prodigality that delights some readers and overwhelms others.
Advanced Usage
- "The prodigality of nature": A phrase used to describe nature's abundant and seemingly wasteful generosity in producing life, seeds, etc.
- "Reckless prodigality": A common collocation emphasizing the careless and irresponsible aspect of the wastefulness.
Variants and Related Words
- Prodigal (adjective): Wastefully extravagant.
- Prodigally (adverb): In a prodigal manner.
Synonyms
- Extravagance
- Wastefulness
- Lavishness
- Profligacy
- Imprudence (in the context of spending)
Antonyms
- Frugality
- Thrift
- Parsimony
- Economy
- Prudence
Idioms and Phrases
- "Prodigality knows no bounds": An expression meaning that someone's wasteful spending or behavior has no limits.
- While not a phrasal verb, the related adjective is central to the idiom "the prodigal son", which refers to a person who leaves home, behaves recklessly, and returns repentant.
Noun
- excessive spending
- the trait of spending extravagantly