profligate

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈprɑflɪɡət/ UK /ˈprɒflɪɡət/ See IPA manual

adj noun

Meanings

1

adj
recklessly wasteful or extravagant; a person of such habits

The profligate heir squandered the entire inheritance in a year.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · recklessly wasteful or... wasteful extravagant prodigal dissolute spendthriftdebauchedlicentious

Opposites

frugal thrifty virtuous prudent temperate

Word family

Derived forms profligatelyprofligacy

Related forms profligacy

Etymology

From Latin profligatus ('dissolute, abandoned, ruined'), past participle of profligare ('to strike down, ruin'), from pro- ('forth, down') + fligere ('to strike').

profligare Latin fligere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

# profligate

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj, noun
**IPA (US):** ˈprɑflɪɡət
**IPA (UK):** ˈprɒflɪɡət

## Meanings
1. recklessly wasteful or extravagant; a person of such habits

## Examples
- The profligate heir squandered the entire inheritance in a year.

## Synonyms
- wasteful
- extravagant
- prodigal
- dissolute
- spendthrift
- debauched
- licentious

## Antonyms
- frugal
- thrifty
- virtuous
- prudent
- temperate

## Derived Forms
- profligately
- profligacy

## Related Forms
- profligacy

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: profligare
- Root: fligere

## Etymology
From Latin profligatus ('dissolute, abandoned, ruined'), past participle of profligare ('to strike down, ruin'), from pro- ('forth, down') + fligere ('to strike').

## AI Etymology
Profligate is from Latin profligatus ('dissolute, abandoned, ruined'), past participle of profligare ('to strike down, ruin'), from pro- ('forth, down') + fligere ('to strike'). Important recorded forms include profligare (Latin) and fligere (Latin). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense remains close to that composition, with the parts narrowing into a single lexical item. In current use it covers recklessly wasteful or extravagant; a person of such habits. The wider family includes derived forms such as profligately and profligacy and related words such as profligacy.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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profligate

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