Dictionary

prodigality en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌprɒdɪˈɡælɪti/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (US) audio
• /ˌprɑdɪˈɡælɪti/ (General-American)

Etymology

From prodigal + -ity, from Old French prodigalite, from Late Latin prodigalitas.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) Wasteful extravagance.
   • Mother[…]considered that the exclusiveness of Peter's circle was due not to its distinction, but to the fact that it was an inner Babylon of prodigality and whoredom, from which every Kensingtonian held aloof, except on the conventional tip-and-run excursions in pursuit of shopping, tea and theatres. 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 2, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
   • The plain where he was riding was one immense thicket of the gum cistus, whose frail white leaves, just veined with the faintest pink, fell in showers at the least movement of the passer-by. What a prodigality of blossom!—for the gum cistus, born and withered in an hour, is the most ephemeral of flowers. 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXII, in Romance and Reality. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 339:
2. (countable, uncountable) Lavish generosity.
   • At least there was an air of reckless prodigality in their appearance, and the most fastidious guest would surely find the wine his soul craved for, at all events) in the label. 1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia, Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co., published 1932, page 92:

Forms

Antonyms

frugality · stinginess · thriftiness · miserliness

Relateds

prodigal

Synonyms

prodigality · extravagance · spendthrift · profligacy · recklessness · profusion · imprudence · profligateness

Translations (26)

ar تَبْذِير (wasteful extravagance.) · hy շվայտություն (wasteful extravagance.) · ro prodigalitate (wasteful extravagance.) · ru транжирство (wasteful extravagance.) · cs rozhazovačnost (wasteful extravagance.) · gd ana-caitheamh (lavish generosity.) · ga caifeachas (wasteful extravagance.) · cs hýřivost (wasteful extravagance.) · nl verspilzucht (wasteful extravagance.) · nl vrijgevigheid (lavish generosity.) · fr prodigalité (lavish generosity.) · cs marnotratnost (wasteful extravagance.) · hy առատաձեռնություն (lavish generosity.) · pt prodigalidade (wasteful extravagance.) · gd ana-caitheamh (wasteful extravagance.) · fa اسراف (wasteful extravagance.) · bg прахосничество (wasteful extravagance.) · ar سَرَف (wasteful extravagance.) · ro prodigalitate (lavish generosity.) · tl sakmata (wasteful extravagance.) · bg щедрост (lavish generosity.) · fr prodigalité (wasteful extravagance.) · ru мотовство (wasteful extravagance.) · ar إِسْرَاف (wasteful extravagance.) · nl kwistigheid (wasteful extravagance.) · bg разточителство (wasteful extravagance.)