prodigal

English

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 prodigy.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɒdɪɡəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɑdɪɡəl/, [ˈpʰɹɑɾɪɡɫ̩]
• Hyphenation: pro‧dig‧al

Adjective

prodigal (comparative more prodigal, superlative most prodigal)

1. Wastefully extravagant.

   Synonyms: lavish, squandering; see also Thesaurus:prodigal

   Antonyms: frugal; see also Thesaurus:frugal

   He found himself guilty of prodigal spending during the holidays.

   The prodigal son spent his share of his inheritance until he was destitute.

   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 257:

     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. (often followed by of or with) Yielding profusely, lavish.

   Synonyms: free, generous, liberal

   She was a merry person, glad and prodigal of smiles.

   How can he be so prodigal with money on such a tight budget?

   • 1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 10, page 63:

     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.

   • 1974, James Herriot, Vet in Harness, page 201:

     Granville poised himself over a vast sirloin, stropped his knife briskly, then began to hack away ruthlessly. He was a prodigal server and piled about two pounds of meat on my plate, then he started on the Yorkshire puddings.

3. Profuse, lavishly abundant.

   Synonyms: inordinate, superabundant; see also Thesaurus:abundant, Thesaurus:excessive

   • 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv], page 37, column 2:

     Goe binde thou vp vond dangling Apricocks, / Which like vnruly Children, make their Syre / Stoupe with oppreſſion of their prodigall weight:

   • 1832, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, The Palace of Art:

     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. (by allusion to the New Testament story commonly called "The Parable of the Prodigal Son", Luke 15:11–32) Behaving as a prodigal son:
   1. Having (selfishly) abandoned a person, group, or ideal.
   2. Returning or having returned, especially repentantly, after such an abandonment.
      • 2012 August 12, Paul Owen, “London 2012 Olympics: day 10”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

        Simon Hart of the Daily Telegraph has tweeted that the prodigal triple-jumper has come home, in preparation for tomorrow's qualification round.

Derived terms

• prodigal son

Translations

wastefully extravagant

• Arabic: مُسْرِف (musrif)
• Azerbaijani: bədxərc, israfcıl
• Bulgarian: разточителен (bg) (raztočitelen), прахоснически (prahosničeski)
• Catalan: pròdig (ca)
• Czech: marnotratný (cs)
• Dutch: kwistig (nl)
• Finnish: tuhlaavainen
• French: prodigue (fr)
• German: verschwenderisch (de)
• Icelandic: hóflaus m or f, hóflaust n
• Irish: anaisteach, caifeach, díobhlásach
• Italian: prodigo (it) m, generoso (it) m
• Japanese: 放蕩 (ja) (hōtō)
• Latin: prōdigus
• Malay: pemboros
• Malayalam: ധൂർത്ത (dhūṟtta)
• Persian: ولخرج (fa) (velxarj)
• Polish: marnotrawny (pl), rozrzutny (pl)
• Portuguese: pródigo (pt) m
• Spanish: pródigo (es)
• Tagalog: masakmata
• Turkish: müsrif (tr), savurgan (tr)
• Welsh: afradlon (cy)

lavish

• Bulgarian: щедър (bg) (štedǎr)
• Finnish: tuhlaavainen
• German: großzügig (de), freigebig (de)
• Macedonian: да́режлив (dárežliv), ште́дар (štédar)
• Spanish: pródigo (es)

profuse, lavishly abundant

• Bulgarian: прекомерен (bg) (prekomeren)
• Finnish: ylenpalttinen (fi)
• German: übermäßig (de), im Überfluß m, in Hülle und Fülle (de) f, üppig (de), überquellend (de), überreichlich (de), enorm (de)
• Macedonian: изо́билен (izóbilen), о́билен (óbilen), преку́мерен (prekúmeren)

Noun

prodigal (plural prodigals)

1. A prodigal person; a spendthrift; a wastrel.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:spendthrift

   • 1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto), London: […] Richard Field, for Iohn Harrison, […], →OCLC, signature B3, recto:

     Now thinkes he that her husbands ſhallow tongue, / The niggard prodigall that praiſde her ſo: / In that high task hath done her Beauty wrong.

   • 1641, Ben Jonson, Timber, or Discoveries made upon men and matter, as they have flowed out of his daily readings, or had their reflux to his peculiar notion of the times; republished as Discoveries Made Upon Men and Matter and Some Poems‎^[2], Cassell & Company, 1892:

     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.

Translations

prodigal — see spendthrift

Further reading

• “prodigal”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “prodigal”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “prodigal”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.