Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Rashly or wastefully extravagant: prodigal expenditures on unneeded weaponry; a prodigal life.
- adj. Giving or given in abundance; lavish or profuse: prodigal praise. See Synonyms at profuse.
- n. One who is given to wasteful luxury or extravagance.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Given to extravagant expenditure; expending money or other property without necessity; profuse; lavish; wasteful: said of persons: as, a prodigal man; the prodigal son.
- Profuse; lavish; wasteful: said of things: as, a prodigal expenditure of money.
- Very liberal; lavishly bountiful: as, nature is prodigal of her gifts.
- Proud. Synonyms Lavish, Profuse, etc. See
extravagant . - n. One who expends money extravagantly or without necessity; one who is profuse or lavish; a waster; a spendthrift. With the definite article, the prodigal, the term, taken from the ordinary chapter-heading, is used to designate the younger son in Christ's parable, Luke xv. 11-32.
- n. In civil law. a person of full age for whom, by judicial authority, a curator is appointed, by reason of his inability to attend to his obligations and estate.
Wiktionary
- adj. wastefully extravagant.
- adj. someone yielding profusely, lavish
- adj. profuse, lavishly abundant
- n. A prodigal person, a spendthrift.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Given to extravagant expenditure; expending money or other things without necessity; recklessly or viciously profuse; lavish; wasteful; not frugal or economical
- n. One who expends money extravagantly, viciously, or without necessity; one that is profuse or lavish in any expenditure; a waster; a spendthrift.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. recklessly wasteful
- n. a recklessly extravagant consumer
Etymologies
- Probably back-formation from prodigality.
Examples
“The foogin 'prodigal RETURNS" made me laugh out loud.”
“The word prodigal, from Greek , doesn’t mean “wayward”; it means “wastefully extravagant.””
“Yo, bible bashing book dad, your bastard prodigal is a man of science.”
“When the prodigal is brought home to his father it is meet that we should make merry and be glad (Luke xv. 32); and when the marriage of the Lamb has come let us be glad and rejoice (Rev. xix.”
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume III (Job to Song of Solomon)
“Let it be noticed that this is a thoroughly Calvinistic parable in that the prodigal was a son, and could not lose that relationship.”
“If this were the _hired_ class, the prodigal was a sorry specimen of humility.”
“The parable of the prodigal is a picture of the latter kind.”
“That story of the prodigal is the eternal love message from Him to us.”
“The prodigal was a son of the father all the time; but when he preferred”
“It not only recalls the prodigal formula of the series 'first iteration -- it improves on that formula in countless clever ways.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘prodigal’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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Headlines & Newsmakers
frugality, environment, extinction, bible, killer, jazz, cloning, dead, god, moon, global warming, bailout and 338 more...
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Words starting with PRO
I've noticed many, many words start with PRO and this is just a collection of them.
professional, pronunciation, Prolagus, probable, prog, proximity, profit, procrastincate, prom, pronoun, promise, proactive and 206 more...
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GRE prep
Words I've studying in preparation for the GRE exam
zeal, opaque, fervid, erudite, equivocal, ethereal, assuage, placate, prodigal, precipitate, anomaly

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