2
: one who expends resources foolishly and self-indulgently : profligate
Synonyms
Examples of wastrel in a Sentence
the black sheep of the family, he ended up being a wastrel and a drunkard
Recent Examples on the Web
Casting is everything; Minghella arranges for his most handsome performer, Jude Law, to play Dickie Greenleaf, the wealthy wastrel whom Ripley (Matt Damon) slays and then seeks to replace.
—
Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2024
The aforementioned wastrel friend, now a drug dealer, asks Mike to do him a favor: Deliver a briefcase of pot to a hotel room.
—Time, 11 Aug. 2023
The always-entertaining Bruce Turk steals all his scenes as Ranevskaya’s spoiled and wastrel brother, Leonid Gayev.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Mar. 2023
Selby is a wastrel with a criminal past, yet his mother keeps providing him with soft places to fall.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 3 Mar. 2023
Even in 1997, everyone looks pretty good for a bunch of wastrel rockers, whose intersecting trajectories are spun through the early chapters.
—John Anderson, WSJ, 2 Mar. 2023
There's also a stern widower father (Adrian Dunbar), a tender-hearted wastrel brother (Dunkirk's Fionn Whitehead), and the aforementioned hot priest (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), who lights a fire in both Emily's mind and her loins.
—Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 17 Feb. 2023
But those damn wastrel Republicans keep putting their hands in the till.
—Teresa M. Hanafin, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Nov. 2022
Lee plays Gi-hun, a penniless wastrel who gambles too much, steals from his family, gets beaten up by loan sharks and accepts a mysterious invitation to become contender #456 in the deadly competition.
—Patrick Frater, Variety, 11 Oct. 2021
Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2024
The aforementioned wastrel friend, now a drug dealer, asks Mike to do him a favor: Deliver a briefcase of pot to a hotel room.
—Time, 11 Aug. 2023
The always-entertaining Bruce Turk steals all his scenes as Ranevskaya’s spoiled and wastrel brother, Leonid Gayev.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Mar. 2023
Selby is a wastrel with a criminal past, yet his mother keeps providing him with soft places to fall.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 3 Mar. 2023
Even in 1997, everyone looks pretty good for a bunch of wastrel rockers, whose intersecting trajectories are spun through the early chapters.
—John Anderson, WSJ, 2 Mar. 2023
There's also a stern widower father (Adrian Dunbar), a tender-hearted wastrel brother (Dunkirk's Fionn Whitehead), and the aforementioned hot priest (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), who lights a fire in both Emily's mind and her loins.
—Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 17 Feb. 2023
But those damn wastrel Republicans keep putting their hands in the till.
—Teresa M. Hanafin, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Nov. 2022
Lee plays Gi-hun, a penniless wastrel who gambles too much, steals from his family, gets beaten up by loan sharks and accepts a mysterious invitation to become contender #456 in the deadly competition.
—Patrick Frater, Variety, 11 Oct. 2021
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wastrel.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near wastrel
Cite this Entry
“Wastrel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wastrel. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
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wastrel
noun
wast·rel
ˈwā-strəl 
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