We were just thinking that that is a concept that really ought to have a word. "Wastefully rich"; for example, smoking a $100 bill as a cigarette.
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1Extravagant suggests unreasonable excess, with an emphasis on wasteful spending (from a usage note under profuse, in NOAD) – J.R. Sep 17 '12 at 0:40
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1Also see Word for the habit of spending money on things that are not really needed and (a little less relevant) How do you refer to someone who has access to an abundance of resources?, and ducks and drakes – James Waldby - jwpat7 Sep 17 '12 at 0:45
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1Aren't they called the 1% ? – Shadur Sep 17 '12 at 9:09
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Do you mean that they are so rich that they can be wasteful without effecting their wealth? – user14070 Sep 17 '12 at 13:33
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There are lots of good words that might apply:
- profligate
- extravagant
- spendthrift
- wastrel
- reckless
- cavalier
- squandering
- wasteful
Combining one of these with an immoderate adverb of one sort or another should get the point across just fine.
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All of these seem to imply that the money will shortly be gone, however, I get the sense from the OP that they are looking for a term for someone so rich that they can waste money without reducing, or at least without endangering, their wealth. – user14070 Sep 17 '12 at 13:34
The word I would normally use in this situation is decadent.
It connotes moral decline, deterioration, and importantly, luxurious self-indulgence.
The classic term is conspicuous consumption, coined by Thorstein Veblen in The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899).
answered Sep 17 '12 at 1:29
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2Not quite the same; conspicuous consumption is specifically for show, whereas this can be for other reasons (e.g. it's not worth your time to save money when time is the limiting factor). – Mechanical snail Sep 17 '12 at 8:26
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@Mechanicalsnail Eh? OP asks specifically for "wasteful" spending. – StoneyB on hiatus Sep 20 '12 at 18:54
I like prodigal -- especially if the person used to be rich and wasteful but has given it up.
If you're looking for an adjective, I think Lavish would be perfect. For example:
A lavish cigar.
answered Sep 17 '12 at 4:31
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1@Reid It certainly does. Consider that the verb form of “lavish” has the following meanings: squander - waste - dissipate. – Konrad Rudolph Sep 17 '12 at 9:42
I'd go for ostentatiously rich / wealthy. It's clear visibility to others that counts.
Wealthy people don't get or stay that way by habitually "wasting" money. If Bill Gates drinks beer that costs $100 a bottle, that's probably because he likes it (and can afford it, obviously).
I'm not sure anyone would prefer smoking a $100 bill rather than a good cigar, but I'd hazard a guess that anyone who actually did this would be more concerned with how the action would be seen by others, rather than the quality of the experience per se.
answered Sep 20 '12 at 17:41
