prodigal
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈpɹɒdɪɡəl/
ipa: /ˈpɹɑdɪɡəl/
ipa: [ˈpʰɹɑɾɪɡɫ̩]
Forms: form: more prodigal
form: most prodigal
Etymology: From Middle French prodigal, from Late Latin prōdigālis (“wasteful”), from Latin prōdigus (“wasteful, lavish, prodigal”), from prōdigō (“to consume, squander, drive forth”), from prōd- [from prō (“before, forward”)] + agō (“to drive”). Also see prodigy.
Senses: examples: text: He found himself guilty of prodigal spending during the holidays.
text: The prodigal son spent his share of his inheritance until he was destitute.
text: The prodigal heir can only waste his own substance, and the punishment falls, as it should, upon himself; but the prince has an awful responsibility,—the welfare of others is required at his hands;...
ref: 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 257:
synonyms: lavish
squandering
antonyms: word: frugal
word: extravagant
word: prodigal
glosses: Wastefully extravagant.
examples: text: She was a merry person, glad and prodigal of smiles.
text: How can he be so prodigal with money on such a tight budget?
text: He generally falls backwards and sometimes succumbs to the fever which ensues; hence as soon as the ordeal is over the women are prodigal of their attentions to him, and rub the swollen arm with a particular kind of herb.
ref: 1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 10, page 63:
text: Granville poised himself over a vast sirloin, stropped his knife briskly, then began to hack away ruthlessly. He was a prodigal server and piled about two pounds of meat on my plate, then he started on the Yorkshire puddings.
ref: 1974, James Herriot, Vet in Harness, page 201:
synonyms: free
generous
liberal
glosses: Yielding profusely, lavish.
raw_tags: followed by of or with
examples: text: Goe binde thou vp vond dangling Apricocks, / Which like vnruly Children, make their Syre / Stoupe with oppreſſion of their prodigall weight:
ref: 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv], page 37, column 2:
text: And one, the reapers at their sultry toil. / In front they bound the sheaves. Behind / Were realms of upland, prodigal in oil, / And hoary to the wind.
ref: 1832, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, The Palace of Art:
synonyms: word: inordinate
word: superabundant
word: abundant
word: abounding
word: ample
word: aplenty
word: brimming
word: copious
word: galore
word: generous
word: lavish
word: numerous
word: overflowing
word: plenteous
word: plentiful
word: prodigal
word: profuse
word: prolific
word: teeming
word: bountiful
word: exuberant
word: liberal
word: superabundant
word: uberous
word: largifluous
word: plentevous
word: largifical
word: profluent
word: excessive
word: extravagant
word: unmeasured
word: unreasonable
word: extreme
word: immoderate
word: intemperate
word: lavish
word: nimious
word: obscene
word: overmuch
word: overweening
word: over the top
word: prodigal
word: undue
word: unrestrained
word: wanton
glosses: Profuse, lavishly abundant.
qualifier: by allusion to the New Testament story commonly called "The Parable of the Prodigal Son"; Luke 15:11–32
glosses: Behaving as a prodigal son:
Having (selfishly) abandoned a person, group, or ideal.
examples: text: Simon Hart of the Daily Telegraph has tweeted that the prodigal triple-jumper has come home, in preparation for tomorrow's qualification round.
ref: 2012 August 12, Paul Owen, “London 2012 Olympics: day 10”, in The Guardian:
text: I went away to come back / Like a prodigal Christian
ref: 2025, Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, “EURO-COUNTRY”, performed by CMAT:
qualifier: by allusion to the New Testament story commonly called "The Parable of the Prodigal Son"; Luke 15:11–32
glosses: Behaving as a prodigal son:
Returning or having returned, especially repentantly, after such an abandonment.
Synonyms: word: extravagant
word: improvident
word: imprudent
word: lavish
word: prodigal
word: profligate
word: reckless
word: spendthrift
word: squandering
word: uneconomical
word: unthrifty
word: wasteful
Hypernyms: word: excessive
Derived terms: prodigal son
Related terms: word: generous