Definition

Noun: 1. A person who wastes resources, especially money, in a reckless or self-indulgent manner: A wastrel is someone who squanders or dissipates their wealth, time, or talents through irresponsible and extravagant behavior. 2. A good-for-nothing person; a worthless or disreputable individual: In a broader or more archaic sense, it can refer to a person considered morally corrupt or a ne'er-do-well.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The young heir was known as a wastrel who spent his entire fortune on gambling and lavish parties within a few years.
  • His father called him a lazy wastrel for refusing to work and wasting his days idly.
  • In the novel, the character is a charming wastrel who eventually loses everything due to his profligate habits.

Advanced Usage

• "A wastrel of [resource]": This construction specifies what is being wasted.
  • He was a wastrel of his considerable talents, never applying himself to anything meaningful.
• The term often carries a strong moral judgment and is used in formal or literary contexts to criticize someone's character and lifestyle.

Variants and Related Words

• Waste (verb/noun): The root action or result. To use carelessly or extravagantly.
  • He wasted his inheritance.
• Waster (noun): A more direct synonym, though slightly less formal or literary than "wastrel."
• Profligate (noun/adj.): A very close synonym, emphasizing reckless extravagance and dissolute behavior.

Synonyms

• Spendthrift: A person who spends money in an extravagant, irresponsible way.
• Profligate: A person given to wildly extravagant and grossly self-indulgent behavior.
• Squanderer: One who wastes resources.
• Ne'er-do-well: A person who is lazy and irresponsible.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• To live a wastrel's life: To live in a manner characteristic of a wastrel.
  • After winning the lottery, he lived a wastrel's life until the money was gone.
• A wastrel son/daughter: A common phrase used, often in historical or literary contexts, to describe a disappointing heir.
  • The family was ruined by their wastrel son.

Noun

1. someone who dissipates resources self-indulgently