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.
His son David speculated that his dad’s mixed feelings about his fast-food career stemmed from a mentality common among children of the Depression: “Excess bothered them. It almost seemed profligate and unnecessary,” he explained.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 4, 2026
He has long believed that large-scale asset purchases should only be used during crisis and in moderation due to the risk that they can be used to fund a profligate Treasury.
From Barron's • Feb. 1, 2026
More broadly, what investors must keep in mind is that Japan’s high debt-to-GDP ratio is largely the result of decades of stagnant growth and deflation, not profligate spending.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 23, 2025
So, at both ends it is a case of minor details; mistakes at the back, profligate finishing up front.
From BBC • Nov. 21, 2024
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
Vocabulary lists containing profligate
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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Grade 12, List 3
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The Importance of Being Earnest
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