spendthrift

1 of 2

noun

spend·​thrift ˈspen(d)-ˌthrift 

plural spendthrifts

: a person who spends improvidently or wastefully

spendthrift

2 of 2

adjective

: given to spending money freely or foolishly : wasteful with money

In advanced economies, austerity rules, with the wealthiest nations promising to mend their spendthrift ways.

—Daniel Gross

As spendthrift baby boomers retire, they will endeavor to turn their meager savings into maximum retirement income.

—Jonathan Clements

In newspaper op-eds, on television talk shows and at a recent hearing on Capitol Hill, critics have assailed public broadcasting as elitist, spendthrift and irrelevant in the cable era.

—Betsy Carpenter

Did you know?

One sense of thrift is "careful management especially of money," and spendthrift was coined in the late 16th century to refer to someone who recklessly flouts such efforts. Synonyms of spendthrift include prodigal, waster, and wastrel. Prodigal also has the suggestion of such enthusiastic waste that it would deplete even the most lavish resources, whereas both waster and wastrel imply that in addition to wastefulness, the person has such dramatic character flaws as to be a good-for-nothing and a drain upon the community.

Synonyms

Noun

• fritterer
• high roller
• prodigal
• profligate
• spender
• squanderer
• waster
• wastrel

Adjective

• extravagant
• high-rolling
• prodigal
• profligate
• squandering
• thriftless
• unthrifty
• wasteful

Examples of spendthrift in a Sentence

Noun

the spendthrift managed to blow all of his inheritance in a single year

Adjective

spendthrift consumers had amassed a mountain of debt on their credit cards

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

That’s half a trillion sucked out of the market and into the bottomless pit of the incontinent spendthrifts in the U.S. government. —Clem Chambers, Forbes, 5 Sep. 2024

Even for a country as awash with cash as Venezuela has been since 2004, Chávez's spendthrift ways have left behind a worrisome level of debt, fiscal deficit, and dependence on imports. —Javier Corrales, Foreign Affairs, 4 Jan. 2013

Adjective

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

Those could have been used to constrain distributions to or for the benefit of the spendthrift child. —Martin Shenkman, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1584, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1607, in the meaning defined above

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!

Kids Definition

spendthrift

noun

spend·​thrift ˈspen(d)-ˌthrift 

: one who spends wastefully

spendthrift adjective

Legal Definition

spendthrift

1 of 2 noun

spend·​thrift ˈspend-ˌthrift 

: a person who spends money foolishly, profusely, or wastefully

spendthrift

2 of 2 adjective

1

: of, relating to, or being a spendthrift

2

: of or relating to a spendthrift trust