wastefulness

2 definitions found

wastefulness - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Wasteful \Waste"ful\, a.
     1. Full of waste; destructive to property; ruinous; as,
        wasteful practices or negligence; wasteful expenses.
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     2. Expending, or tending to expend, property, or that which
        is valuable, in a needless or useless manner; lavish;
        prodigal; as, a wasteful person; a wasteful disposition.
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     3. Waste; desolate; unoccupied; untilled. [Obs.]
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              In wilderness and wasteful desert strayed.
                                                    --Spenser.
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     Syn: Lavish; profuse; prodigal; extravagant.
          [1913 Webster] -- Waste"ful*ly, adv. --
          Waste"ful*ness, n.
          [1913 Webster]

wastefulness - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  wastefulness
      n 1: the trait of wasting resources; "a life characterized by
           thriftlessness and waste"; "the wastefulness of missed
           opportunities" [syn: thriftlessness, waste,
           wastefulness]
      2: useless or profitless activity; using or expending or
         consuming thoughtlessly or carelessly; "if the effort brings
         no compensating gain it is a waste"; "mindless dissipation of
         natural resources" [syn: waste, wastefulness,
         dissipation]