Prodigality
noun ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Wasteful extravagance. countable, uncountable
"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."
- 2 the activity of excessive spending wordnet
- 3 Lavish generosity. countable, uncountable
"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."
- 4 the trait of spending extravagantly wordnet
Example
More examples"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."
Etymology
From prodigal + -ity, from Old French prodigalite, from Late Latin prodigalitas.
More for "prodigality"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.