profligacy
/ˈpɹɑflɪɡəsi/noun
profligacy is spelled P-R-O-F-L-I-G-A-C-Y: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 74,980th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, profligacy means “Careless wastefulness” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of profligacy is profligacies.
How many letters and syllables are in profligacy?
| Letters | 10: P-R-O-F-L-I-G-A-C-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 6 million words; the 74,980th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is profligacy?
Profligacy appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 74,980th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce profligacy?
- US /ˈpɹɑflɪɡəsi/
Profligacy has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-profligacy.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of profligacy
- profligacies plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does profligacy mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Careless wastefulness.
- 2
Shameless and immoral behaviour.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Profligacy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Verschwendung |
| Portuguese | esbanjamento, prodigalidade, desperdício , devassidão, libertinagem, licenciosidade |
| Spanish | derroche |
| French | débauche, impudence, indécence |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does profligacy come from?
From proflig(ate) + -acy (with -acy a suffixal construction from -ate + -cy), from Latin prōflīgātus, past participle of Latin prōflīgō, from prō- (“forward”) + flīgō (“to strike, dash”) (whence pro-).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).