profligate

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He thinks humanity is engaged in a “plunder” of nature “while our profligate use of land and energy continues to ruin our planet and threaten our existence.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026

Skepticism about the wisdom of these profligate plans are a problem for indexes that are heavily weighted toward big tech like the S&P 500, which ended the week slightly lower.

From Barron's • Feb. 9, 2026

Yet her subject matter—life in an ordinary English village—contrasts with the Prince’s profligate metropolitan existence, and to most of his countrymen he appeared an “inveterate voluptuary,” of whom Austen, like many of her class, disapproved.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025

Captain Dan Sheehan, Tomos Williams and Elliot Daly scored in a first half largely dominated by the profligate hosts in terms of territory but not on the scoreboard.

From BBC • Jun. 28, 2025

Although he possessed extraordinary reserves of energy, he’d been profligate with those reserves, and by the time he got to Camp Four they were nearly depleted.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer