prodigal
pronunciation
How to pronounce prodigal in British English:
UK [ˈprɒdɪɡl]
How to pronounce prodigal in American English:
US [ˈprɑːdɪɡl]
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- Noun:
- a recklessly extravagant consumer
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- Adjective:
- very generous
- recklessly wasteful
- marked by rash extravagance
Word Origin
- prodigal (adj.)
- mid-15c., a back-formation from prodigality, or else from Middle French prodigal and directly from Late Latin prodigalis, from Latin prodigus "wasteful," from prodigere "drive away, waste," from pro- "forth" (see pro-) + agere "to drive" (see act (v.)). First reference is to prodigial son, from Vulgate Latin filius prodigus (Luke xv:11-32). As a noun, "prodigal person," 1590s, from the adjective (the Latin adjective also was used as a noun).
Synonym
Antonym
Example
- 1. , And the return of the prodigal co-founder , jack dorsey , as chairman and head of product .
- 2. The prodigal roommate arrives .
- 3. The prodigal roommate revealed .
- 4. It was not a prodigal 's return to neoconservatism , from one simplicity to another .
- 5. Is it true that americans are prodigal ?