wasteful
/ˈweɪstfəl/adjective
wasteful is spelled W-A-S-T-E-F-U-L: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,356th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, wasteful means “Inclined to waste or squander money or resources” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in wasteful?
| Letters | 8: W-A-S-T-E-F-U-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.9 times per million words; the 20,356th 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 wasteful?
Wasteful appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,356th 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 wasteful?
- /ˈweɪstfəl/
Wasteful has 2 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)-Vininn126-wasteful.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of wasteful
- more wasteful comparative
- most wasteful superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does wasteful mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Inclined to waste or squander money or resources.
- 2
obsoleteUninhabited, desolate.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Wasteful in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense inclined to waste:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | dépensier, gaspilleur, dilapidateur |
| German | verschwenderisch |
| Portuguese | desperdiçador |
| Spanish | derrochador, despilfarrador, malgastador, manirroto, botarate |
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 wasteful come from?
From Middle English wastful; equivalent to waste + -ful.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).