Profligate
/ˈprɒf.lɪ.ɡət/noun
Wastefully extravagant or recklessly immoral.
Did you know?Profligate comes from Latin profligatus, the past participle of profligare, meaning “to strike down” or “overthrow,” so its moral sense grew out of the image of something brought low by force.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*bhleg-
“to strike, burn, or flash”
Latin
Latin
profligare
“to strike down, overthrow, ruin”
Latin
Latin
profligatus
“overthrown, ruined; later morally debased”
Late Middle English
English
profligate
“ruined, abandoned, licentious”
Modern English
English
profligate
“wastefully extravagant or recklessly immoral”