spendthrift

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈspɛndθrɪft/ UK /ˈspɛndθrɪft/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a person who spends money wastefully and extravagantly

A notorious spendthrift, he soon ran through his inheritance.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person who spends money... squandererwastrelprofligate prodigalwaster

Opposites

misersavercheapskatehoarder

Word family

Related forms spend thrift

Etymology

A compound of spend + thrift, originally meaning one who spends his savings; spend is from Old English spendan (from Latin expendere), and thrift is from Old Norse þrift ('prosperity').

spendan Old English þrift Old Norse

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# spendthrift

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈspɛndθrɪft/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈspɛndθrɪft/

## Meanings
1. a person who spends money wastefully and extravagantly

## Examples
- A notorious spendthrift, he soon ran through his inheritance.

## Synonyms
- squanderer
- wastrel
- profligate
- prodigal
- waster

## Antonyms
- miser
- saver
- cheapskate
- hoarder

## Related Forms
- spend
- thrift

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: spendan
- Root: þrift

## Etymology
A compound of spend + thrift, originally meaning one who spends his savings; spend is from Old English spendan (from Latin expendere), and thrift is from Old Norse þrift ('prosperity').

## AI Etymology
Spendthrift is a compound of spend + thrift, originally meaning one who spends his savings; spend is from Old English spendan (from Latin expendere), and thrift is from Old Norse þrift ('prosperity'). The compound structure is semantically important: one element narrows the setting, direction, or quality, and the other supplies the object, action, or base idea. As a noun and adjective, it denotes "a person who spends money wastefully and extravagantly", keeping the historical idea close to its dictionary sense. Relevant historical forms include Old English spendan and Old Norse þrift. Related words include spend, thrift.

## Topics
- People & Society

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