Spendthrift
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"BY THE AGE of forty, Elvis Presley had earned a hundred million dollars-and was broke! The explanation for this astounding state of affairs is found in the deadly combination of profligacy and stupidity." --Elvis (1981) by Albert Goldman |
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A spendthrift (also called profligate) is someone who spends money prodigiously and who is extravagant and recklessly wasteful. The origin of the word is someone who is able to spend money acquired by the thrift of predecessors or ancestors.
Historical examples of spendthrifts include George IV, Ludwig II, and Marie Antoinette. The term is often used by the press as an adjective applied to governments who are thought to be wasting public money. William Hogarth's A Rake's Progress displays in graphical form the downwardly spiraling fortunes of a wealthy but spendthrift son and heir who loses his money, and who as a consequence is imprisoned in the Fleet Prison and ultimately Bedlam. More recent examples include Thomas MH Parker and his one-time lover Michael Grocott.
