Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. One who spends money recklessly or wastefully.
- adj. Wasteful or extravagant: spendthrift bureaucrats.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. One who spends lavishly, improvidently, or foolishly; an unthrifty spender; a prodigal.
- Wastefully spending or spent; lavish; improvident; wasteful; prodigal: as, a spendthrift heir; spendthrift ways.
Wiktionary
- n. Someone who spends money improvidently or wastefully.
- adj. Wasteful, improvident or profligate.
- adj. Lavish or extravagant.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. One who spends money profusely or improvidently; a prodigal; one who lavishes or wastes his estate. Also used figuratively.
- adj. Prodigal; extravagant; wasteful.
WordNet 3.0
- n. someone who spends money prodigally
- adj. recklessly wasteful
Etymologies
- spend + thrift, accumulated wealth (obsolete).
Examples
“Let's hope so ...... the spendthrift is bankrupting the country.”
“To start with, his popular reputation as a careless spendthrift is untrue.”
“I voted for McGinn and the notion that he's the fiscally responsible one and Dively's a spendthrift is moronic. sister Loura”
McGinn’s Budget Briefing: Gloom, Doom, and Reorganization « PubliCola
“South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun has been described as a spendthrift "socialist" by the head of emerging markets at Goldman Sachs.”
“He has been described as a spendthrift and gambler, and as one scarcely honest in his extravagance and gambling.”
“At the crowing of the cock, the extravagant and erring spirit (that is, the spendthrift of a defendant) whether he be drinking arrack punch at Vauxhall, champaigne at the Mount, or brandy and water at the Eccentries, must kick off his glass-slipper, and hobble back to St. George's Fields, like the lame bottle-conjuror of Le Sage.”
The Mirror of Taste, and Dramatic Censor, Vol. I, No. 5, May 1810
“He suddenly HAD recalled the spendthrift Delatour perfectly, and as quickly regretted now that he had not doubled the honorarium he had just sent to his portionless daughter.”
“So even though the Japanese and other Asians have been "good boys, working and saving," the coming slump could hit them even harder than the "spendthrift" Americans.”
“Government to pull the reins on 'spendthrift' ministers”
WN.com - Articles related to Reliance Infratel IPO gets Sebi nod
“Ironically, Edwards tells Newsmax, the "spendthrift" habits of the Bush years are what laid the groundwork for Obama's record-smashing expansion.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘spendthrift’.
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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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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 1128 more...
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Five Consecutive Consonants
A list of words containing five consecutive consonants
I do not include words containing "y" as part of the 5-letter string, since that letter invariably functions as a vowel, as in rhythm. <...heartstricken, heartstruck, wellspring, offspring, yachtsman, worthwhile, backstretch, backstroke, downstream, downstroke, breaststroke, birthstone and 187 more...
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Consecutive Consonants
borscht, worthwhile, bronkhurstspruit, latchstring, hirschsprung's di..., backstroke, birthplace, birthstone, breaststroke, corkscrew, downstream, erstwhile and 26 more...
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Deceptively named words
Words that mean the opposite of what they sound like they mean
pulchritude, enervate, restive, puissant, redoubtable, spendthrift, quean, matriculate, tripping, gainsay, nonplus, prosaic and 12 more...
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Oxymorons
Two contradictory terms in a war of words.
oxymoron, pretty ugly, deafening silence, holy war, instant classic, friendly fire, virtual reality, act naturally, modern history, bad luck, still life, good grief and 72 more...
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Duelistic
One-word oxymorons and dvandva (copulative compound (hot)) words with that contradictory, antonymic tension. Hyphens are fine, and neologisms are great, but I don't want any portmanteau words (I c...
bittersweet, push-pull, crosscurrent, featherweight, butthead, wholesome, firewater, homework, lovesick, nevermore, oxymoron, inside-out and 59 more...
kewpid I was not confused before, but I will be now. Thanks a lot guys! Jun 13, 2008
dontcry I agree. I once got into an argument with someone who would not back down in their belief that it meant "frugal". How petty... Jun 13, 2008
yarb Ditto - I too find this word counter-intuitive. Jun 13, 2008
oroboros "Spendthrift" is one of those words that always confuses me. I always think it means the opposite of what it actually does.
To me I think that it would mean being "thrifty" ("tight", "frugal") with one's "spending".
It actually means being wasteful with one's money. This comes from the fact that "thrift" as a noun means one's fortune or savings, so one who is a spendthrift literally spends his savings (presumably with little prudence).
Eric Harshbarger--Logolog Jun 13, 2008
sera "Someone who spends money prodigally" Aug 16, 2007