as in extravagant
given to spending money freely or foolishly
my one wasteful child always seemed to run out of money by midweek
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Recent Examples of wasteful
Dembele, notoriously a wasteful finisher, had 28 goals combined in the previous five seasons, and worked well as a right winger in 2023-24 in tandem with underlapping right-back Achraf Hakimi.
—
Liam Tharme, New York Times, 29 May 2025
Elon Musk calls Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ wasteful Elon Musk criticized President Donald Trump’s sprawling One Big Beautiful BIll as wasteful in a new interview amid signs the epic bromance between the man in the White House and the world’s richest man is fading.
—Chicago Tribune, 28 May 2025
Emerging narrative or worldview: Much of this Federal funding is wasteful and supports faculty and research with biases inimical to the values of many citizens.
—Rick Miller, Forbes.com, 22 May 2025
China’s top-down innovation model, heavily reliant on government subsidies and investment, has proved to be both inefficient and wasteful.
—Li Yuan, New York Times, 13 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for wasteful
Liam Tharme, New York Times, 29 May 2025
Elon Musk calls Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ wasteful Elon Musk criticized President Donald Trump’s sprawling One Big Beautiful BIll as wasteful in a new interview amid signs the epic bromance between the man in the White House and the world’s richest man is fading.
—Chicago Tribune, 28 May 2025
Emerging narrative or worldview: Much of this Federal funding is wasteful and supports faculty and research with biases inimical to the values of many citizens.
—Rick Miller, Forbes.com, 22 May 2025
China’s top-down innovation model, heavily reliant on government subsidies and investment, has proved to be both inefficient and wasteful.
—Li Yuan, New York Times, 13 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for wasteful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wasteful
Adjective
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An extravagant estate long owned by the late Orange County Air Force major general turned homebuilder and civic leader William Lyon has roared onto the market in Southern California.—
Wendy Bowman,
Robb Report,
6 June 2025
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Arnault confessed to intense curiosity about how Anderson will interpret the legacy of Dior, whose founder ignited postwar Paris with his extravagant, full-skirted New Look and whose brief career ended with his death in 1957.—
Miles Socha,
Footwear News,
2 June 2025
Adjective
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Until recently, Swedes were among the most profligate flyers on the planet.—
Carlton Reid,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2025
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Tiny shampoo bottles are no longer seen as cute freebies by many travelers but as profligate waste when refillable larger containers make more environmental sense.—
Carlton Reid,
Forbes.com,
29 May 2025
Adjective
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Southern Living contributor Rick Bragg says the recipe is actually very simple: squishy white brand, salt and pepper, generous smears of mayo, and slices of juicy tomatoes.—
Mary Shannon Wells,
Southern Living,
8 June 2025
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With generous funding from the San Diego Foundation, the city is partnering with San Diego State University Center for Excellence in Aging & Longevity (CEAL) and AARP as part of the Age Friendly Encinitas initiative.—
News Release,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 June 2025
Adjective
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Galle’s father worked for Marie Antoinette, but the French Revolution unsurprisingly had a major impact on the aristocratic market for spendthrift furnishings like this.—
Christopher Knight,
Los Angeles Times,
21 May 2024
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Those could have been used to constrain distributions to or for the benefit of the spendthrift child.—
Martin Shenkman,
Forbes,
20 Feb. 2024
Adjective
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What happens when a prodigal son falls under the influence of his older, American wife?—
Air Mail,
Air Mail,
17 May 2025
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Everyone can't stop talking about Blue Ivy Carter—Beyoncé and Jay-Z's prodigal daughter—after the 13-year-old took to the stage alongside her mom at the launch of her Cowboy Carter tour this week.—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 May 2025
Adjective
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Keep an open mind, as an erratic square between Mars and Uranus on June 15 could shake things up in unpredictable ways and result in some reckless behavior.—
Valerie Mesa,
People.com,
6 June 2025
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The girl’s 47-year-old stepmom is charged with child endangerment and reckless endangerment by discharging a firearm from within a motor vehicle, Shelby County court records show.—
Olivia Lloyd,
Charlotte Observer,
6 June 2025
Adjective
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State troopers cited the truck driver who caused the crash, a 57-year-old Texas man, for careless driving causing injury, according to the agency.—
Katie Langford,
Denver Post,
7 June 2025
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Edmund Richard Hartley, 32, the alleged operator of the vessel towing Ella, has been charged with four misdemeanors for careless operation of a vessel, the commission said.—
Meredith Deliso,
ABC News,
3 June 2025
Adjective
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Her brand at the time was something like the Obama of the antipodes: a liberal media darling, icon of the global anti-Trump resistance, transitioning smoothly from lofty oratory to easygoing relatability.—
Andrew Marantz,
New Yorker,
9 June 2025
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The theater community is a liberal one, and many winners used their time on stage to criticize the Trump administration.—
Michaela Zee,
Variety,
8 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Wasteful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wasteful. Accessed 19 Jun. 2025.
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