Wasteful Meaning

/ˈweɪstfəl/
B2

Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

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adjInclined to waste or squander money or resources.

adjUninhabited, desolate.

It's wasteful to leave the land lying idle.
Taxpayers are angry about wasteful government spending.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ use of electricity led to high bills for the family.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Leaving the lights on when nobody is in the room is a very ____ habit that costs a lot of money today.

From Middle English wastful; equivalent to waste + -ful.

"As a narrative, competition of the type seen between the London Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS) and the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) was seen as wasteful, with duplicate routes reflecting an unnecessary use of resources." — 2023 March 8, 'Industry Insider', “The Beeching legacy”, in RAIL, number 978, page 68:
"Shortly vnto the vvaſtefull vvoods ſhe came, / VVhereas ſhe found the Goddeſſe vvith her crevv, […]" — 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 17, page 482:

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CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ use of electricity led to high bills for the family.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Leaving the lights on when nobody is in the room is a very ____ habit that costs a lot of money today.

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