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.


Solution 1:

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.

Solution 2:

The word I would normally use in this situation is decadent.

It connotes moral decline, deterioration, and importantly, luxurious self-indulgence.

Solution 3:

The classic term is conspicuous consumption, coined by Thorstein Veblen in The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899).

Solution 4:

I like prodigal -- especially if the person used to be rich and wasteful but has given it up.

Solution 5:

If you're looking for an adjective, I think Lavish would be perfect. For example:

A lavish cigar.