wastefuladj.
/ˈweɪstf(ᵿ)l/, U.S. /ˈweɪs(t)fəl/ 1. That causes devastation, desolation, or ruin; that destroys or lays waste.quasi-adverb.1728 J. Thomson Spring 8 Insect-Armies..wasteful eat Thro' Buds, and Bark.
a. of a person or animal, thing personified, personal action or attribute. ? Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [adjective] > devastating
wastingc1230
wastefula1400
spoiling1565
desolative1593
desolatory1606
depopulating1627
devastating1634
ravaginga1649
devasting1659
vastative1667
devastative1805
depopulative1861
depopulatory1864
earth-shattering1864
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 18230 Þu prince of tinsel and þu duke Of wastful werk, sir belzabuk.
1576 A. Fleming tr. J. Caius Of Eng. Dogges 32 What man..with more vehemency of voyce giueth warning eyther of a wastefull beaste, or of a spoiling theefe then this [dog]?
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Jan. 2 When Winters wastful spight was almost spent.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry V i. ii. 283 Wastfull vengeance.
1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey iv. 218 England..defended by the Sea from wastfull incursions.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 620 Yonder World, which I So fair and good created, and had still Kept in that state, had not the folly of Man Let in these wastful Furies. View more context for this quotation
1783 E. Burke Speech Fox's E. India Bill in Wks. (1842) I. 282 The several irruptions of Arabs, Tartars, and Persians into India were, for the greater part, ferocious, bloody, and wasteful in the extreme.
1819 W. Scott Legend of Montrose ix, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. IV. 211 He collected his scattered forces from the wasteful occupation in which they had been engaged.
b. of a thing, its action. Now rare.
ΚΠ
c1590 C. Marlowe Jew of Malta iii. 287 First will we race the City wals our selues,..And..Open an entrance for the wastfull sea.
1600 E. Fairfax tr. T. Tasso Godfrey of Bulloigne viii. lxxii. 156 Mongst them Alecto strowed wastefull fire.
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd iv. 458 [Storms] being oft times noxious where they light On man, beast, plant, wastful and turbulent. View more context for this quotation
1712 R. Blackmore Creation i. 48 But not impel them o'er their Bounds of Sand, Nor force the wastful Deluge o'er the Land.
1830 C. Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 266 The wasteful action [of water] is very conspicuous at Dimlington Height.
1833 H. Martineau Tale of Tyne ii. 28 These wasteful fires were a terrible nuisance.
2. Useless, worthless; unused.† a. Of desires, words, etc.: Empty, vain, profitless. Of time: Unoccupied, spare. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > [adjective]
idlec825
unnuteOE
bricklec1225
tooma1250
unnaita1250
vaina1300
waste1303
overvoida1382
voida1382
superfluec1384
daylessa1387
unbehovely1390
unprofitablea1398
unbehoveful1429
wastefulc1450
idleful1483
fruster1488
vainful1509
frustrate?a1513
superfluousa1533
addle1534
lost1535
fittle1552
futilea1575
nugatory1605
futilous1607
shiftless1613
tympanous1625
emptya1628
frustraneousa1643
pointless1673
futilitous1765
otiose1795
stultificatory1931
the world > time > spending time > [adjective] > spare or unoccupied
wasteful1573
c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 304 Þe secunde fote depthe is wast of þi mowth, þat is, wastfull woordys, whann þou spekyst all of þi good, of þi rycches, [etc.].
c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 303 Þowȝ þou be poore..þou mayst haue þis grauel of wast in þin herte in wastfull & feruent desyris, wyllys, & delyȝtes.
a1547 Earl of Surrey Poems (1964) 90 But when I made my compte, with howe great care of mynd..that I had sought so wastfull frutt to fynde Then was I streken strayte.
1573 Abp. M. Parker Let. 9 May in Corr. (1853) (modernized text) 426 I was the bolder to take mine occasion thus equitare in arundine longa, so spending my wasteful time within mine own walls.
1577 W. Fulke Confut. Doctr. Purgatory i. iii. 216 That I haue alleaged already is sufficient to represse that vaine and vnskilfull insultation, that you vse in so many wastfull wordes against vs.
b. Refuse, waste. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > refuse or rubbish > [adjective]
refuse1463
waste1678
wasteful1868
1868 T. T. Lynch Rivulet (ed. 3) cii. 120 For He, the Sower, must return..The wheat to garner, and to burn Of tares the wasteful heap.
3. Of a place: Desolate; unused, unfrequented, uninhabited, void. Obsolete exc. archaic and poetic.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > retirement or seclusion > secluded place or place of seclusion > [adjective] > unfrequented
solitaryc1374
solein1390
insolentc1420
dern1488
uncoutha1542
unvisited1548
unhaunted1568
wasteful1573
unfrequented1594
untraded1596
sole1598
frequentlessa1607
unfrequenting1609
unrepaired to1615
unfrequent1618
lonely1645
lonesome1647
infrequented1675
lone1712
lonelyish1900
1573 Abp. M. Parker Let. 12 Mar. in Corr. (1853) (modernized text) 419 I would remove some part of an old, decayed, wasteful, unwholesome, and desolate house at Ford, to enlarge the little house I have at Bekesborne.
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. June 50 Thy rymes and roundelayes, Which thou were wont on wastfull hylls to singe.
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Dec. 23 I went the wastefull woodes and forest wyde.
1642 H. More Ψυχωδια Platonica Poem to Rdr. sig. A2v Thus sing I..To wastefull woods, to empty groves.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 961 When strait behold the Throne Of Chaos, and his dark Pavilion spread Wide on the wasteful Deep. View more context for this quotation
1712 R. Blackmore Creation ii. 58 A wastful, cold, untrodden Wilderness.
1827 R. Pollok Course of Time I. iii. 99 At the midnight hour..in wasteful hall,..Thou mightst have seen him bending o'er his heaps, And holding strange communion with his gold.
1883 R. Bridges Prometheus 3 When he had taken the throne and chained His foes in wasteful Tartarus.
1890 E. H. Barker Wayfaring in France 313 The Druids of old, who sought these wasteful places as the fittest for the worship of that Mystery.
4. † c. Beneficently extravagant, lavish. Obsolete. rare.
a. Of a person, his disposition, etc.: Addicted to waste; given to useless or excessive expenditure; regardless of economy in the management or use of resources; prodigal, extravagant, thriftless.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > relinquishing > squandering or prodigality > [adjective]
largea1225
fool-largec1325
costlewa1387
outragea1400
riotousc1405
sumptuousa1425
superfluea1425
prodigatec1429
profuse?a1475
lavishc1475
prodigalc1485
prodiga1492
prodigaleousa1500
superfluous1531
wasteful1538
costly?1555
prodigal1570
overlavish1573
squandering1589
lavishing1598
spenseful1600
expenseful1605
spendthrift1607
spendful1611
dingthrifty1615
impendious1623
expensive1628
unthriftya1631
spendthrifty1642
flush1703
extravagant1711
profligate1718
dispendious1727
wastry1791
wasterful1821
wastrife1822
prodigalish1857
high-rolling1890
wastrel1896
1538 T. Elyot Dict. Prodigus, prodigall, wastefull, an outragious expender.
1540 J. Palsgrave tr. G. Gnapheus Comedye of Acolastus Prol. sig. Bijv The gospell reherseth the lyfe of the prodigal son .i. of the wastfull spendyng chylde by a knowen parable.
1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Piiiv/1 Waystfull, dispendiosus.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. lxxvii. 229 As in the Gospell that wastfull young man which returned home to his Fathers house was with ioy both admitted and honoured.
1604 S. Rowlands Looke to It 40 You carelesse wretches of the wastfull vaine, That for your Families will not prouide.
1662 H. Hibbert Syntagma Theologicum 186 They that lose time are the greatest losers and wastfullest prodigals.
a1768 T. Secker Serm. Several Subj. (1770) III. vii. 170 For it is hardly to be hoped, but that our Negligence about their Conduct will tempt them, either to be dishonest, or idle, or wastful, in our Service.
b. Of expenditure, style of living, etc.: Characterized by waste or extravagance.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > relinquishing > squandering or prodigality > [adjective] > characterized or marked by squandering
wasteful1451
prodigal1508
sieve-like1605
profusive1638
akolastic1656
squandering1726
effuse1745
spendthrift1790
1451 J. Capgrave Life St. Gilbert 69 In his riding had he no costful hors, no wastful aray, not many hors, ne many seruantis.
1540 J. Palsgrave tr. G. Gnapheus Comedye of Acolastus v. iv. sig. Ziij By prodygalitie or wastfull spendyng.
a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iv. ii. 16 Or with Taper-light To seeke the beauteous eye of heauen to garnish, Is wastefull, and ridiculous excesse. View more context for this quotation
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iii. 289 By plundering the public creditor, it was possible to..support..the wasteful expenditure of the court.
1885 Ld. Tennyson Anc. Sage 5 One..richly garb'd, but worn From wasteful living.
1885 Manch. Examiner 6 May 5/2 No society..is more free from the drawback of wasteful expense in management.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > giving > liberal giving > [adjective]
custyeOE
room-handeda1200
largea1225
free?c1225
plenteousc1350
bounteousc1374
liberalc1384
free-hearteda1398
ungnedea1400
royalc1405
opena1425
plentifula1475
profuse?a1475
ungrighta1475
lavishc1475
almifluent1477
prodigous1477
frank1484
bountiful1508
largifluent?a1525
munificent1565
magnificent1577
largeous1583
munifical1583
magnifical1586
free-handed1592
frolic1593
open-handed1593
magnific?1594
prodigal1595
goodwillya1598
communicativea1602
real1602
prodig1605
unniggard1605
generous1615
open-hearteda1617
large-handeda1628
unniggardly1628
fluent1633
profusive1638
numerous1655
largifical1656
insordid1660
unsparing1667
dispensive1677
expensive1678
wasteful1701
flush1703
unboundeda1704
genteel1741
munific1745
magnifique1751
ungrudginga1774
unstinting1845
brickish1860
flaithulach1876
princely1889
outgiving1896
sharing1922
two-handed1929
1701 J. Addison Let. from Italy 106 How has kind Heaven adorned the happy land, And scattered blessings with a wasteful hand!
5. † b. of a thing. Obsolete.
a. Of a person, an action, process, etc.: That wastes, consumes or expends unprofitably (something specified or implied); not economical. Const. of.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [adjective] > wasteful > specifically of a person
wasteful1587
1587 L. Mascall Bk. Cattell: Oxen (1596) 72 Some do vse to feede them on the ground without a racke, but that is thought to be..more wastfull of hay.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 171 A wasteful condensation of the newly introduced steam must take place.
1837 W. Irving Adventures Capt. Bonneville III. 263 Rival parties of trappers soon exhaust the streams, especially when competition renders them heedless and wasteful of the beaver.
1874 H. H. Cole Catal. Objects Indian Art S. Kensington Mus. 234 The material..is in itself of such beautiful texture that it seems wasteful of good things to cover it with embroidery.
1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 203 It seems to me rather wasteful to spend a lot of extra money on half-plate slides, and then only use them for quarters.
1893 Bookman June 85/2 He knows what he can do, and, avoiding any wasteful dissipation of his powers, does that efficiently.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [adjective] > wasteful
wastefula1616
consumptive1652
unfrugala1662
infrugal1684
uneconomical1840
uneconomic1843
ineconomic1852
a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) ii. ii. 159 When euery roome Hath blaz'd with Lights,..I haue retyr'd me to a wastefull cocke, And set mine eyes at flow. View more context for this quotation
1618 W. Lawson New Orchard & Garden (1623) xi. 33 The greater Trees..haue filled and ouer-loaden themselues with a number of wastfull boughs and suckers.
6. That causes bodily waste or decay. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > wasting disease > [adjective] > causing
wastinga1600
wastefula1616
syntectic1651
colliquative1666
consuming1699
forpining1818
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) iii. ii. 315 The one sleepes easily because he cannot study,..lacking the burthen of leane and wasteful Learnings.
1824 S. E. Ferrier Inheritance III. xxxiii. 340 Using every argument to rouse her from this wasteful excess of grief.
1829 I. Taylor Nat. Hist. Enthusiasm ix. 241 Self-inflicted penances, wasteful abstinences,..and all such like spontaneities.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.a1400