Money Matters: Can’t Spend it Fast Enough

This word means spending recklessly almost to the point of immorality. This word often pops up in politics, when some charge that government is spending wastefully.

The provenance of this word—like many GRE words—is the Bible. One of Jesus’ most famous parables, the story is of a young man who squanders his father’s wealth and returns home destitute. His father forgives him, but to posterity he will forever be remembered as the prodigal son. Therefore to be prodigal is to squander or waste wealth (it doesn’t necessarily have to be familial wealth.)

One of the seven deadly sins, avarice means greed. Of note, this word doesn’t necessarily mean greed for money but usually pertains to possessions and not food.

This word is similar to avarice in that it means greedy. But the word is even more relevant to this post in that it means greed for money. Surprising, right? We think of Cupid the flying cherub, firing his arrow away and making Romeos and Juliets out of us. To avoid any confusion, instead imagine Cupid flying around shooting arrows into people’s wallets/purses and then swooping in and taking the loot. Oh what cupidity!