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prodigal

adj
/ˈpɹɒdɪɡəl/UK/ˈpɹɑdɪɡəl/US

Etymology

From Middle French prodigal, from Late Latin prōdigālis (“wasteful”), from Latin prōdigus (“wasteful, lavish, prodigal”), from prōdigō (“to consume, squander, drive forth”), from prōd- [from prō (“before, forward”)] + agō (“to drive”). Also see unrelated prodigy. The senses of "abandoning a person or cause" and "returning after abandonment" are by allusion to the New Testament story commonly called "The Parable of the Prodigal Son", Luke 15:11–32. See prodigal son.

  1. derived from prōdigus
  2. derived from prōdigālis
  3. borrowed from prodigal

Definitions

  1. Wastefully extravagant.

    • He found himself guilty of prodigal spending during the holidays.
    • The prodigal son spent his share of his inheritance until he was destitute.
    • The prodigal heir can only waste his own substance, and the punishment falls, as it should, upon himself; but the prince has an awful responsibility,—the welfare of others is required at his hands;...

  2. Yielding profusely, lavish.

    • She was a merry person, glad and prodigal of smiles.
    • How can he be so prodigal with money on such a tight budget?
    • He generally falls backwards and sometimes succumbs to the fever which ensues; hence as soon as the ordeal is over the women are prodigal of their attentions to him, and rub the swollen arm with a particular kind of herb.

  3. Profuse, lavishly abundant.

    • Goe binde thou vp vond dangling Apricocks, / Which like vnruly Children, make their Syre / Stoupe with oppreſſion of their prodigall weight:
    • And one, the reapers at their sultry toil. / In front they bound the sheaves. Behind / Were realms of upland, prodigal in oil, / And hoary to the wind.
  4. ›+ 2 more definitions

    1. Behaving as a prodigal son

      Behaving as a prodigal son:

    2. A prodigal person

      A prodigal person; a spendthrift; a wastrel.

      • Now thinkes he that her husbands ſhallow tongue, / The niggard prodigall that praiſde her ſo: / In that high task hath done her Beauty wrong.
      • Change into extremity is very frequent and easy. As when a beggar suddenly grows rich, he commonly becomes a prodigal; for, to obscure his former obscurity, he puts on riot and excess.

The neighborhood

Derived

prodigalish, prodigalism, prodigality, prodigalize, prodigally, prodigalness, prodigal son, unprodigal

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at prodigal. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01prodigal02profusely03profuse04generous05petty06limited07plentiful

A definitional loop anchored at prodigal. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at prodigal

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA