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adj. 1. Given to or characterized by licentiousness or dissipation: a profligate nightlife. 2. Given to or characterized by reckless waste; wildly extravagant: a profligate spender; the profligate use of water. n. A profligate person. [Latin prōflīgātus, past participle of prōflīgāre, to ruin, cast down : prō-, forward; see PRO-1 + -flīgāre, intensive of flīgere, to strike down.] profli·ga·cy (-gə-sē) n. profli·gate·ly adv. |
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