A spendthrift (also profligate or prodigal) is someone who is extravagant and recklessly wasteful with money, often to a point where the spending climbs well beyond their means.
[2] Historical figures who have been characterised as spendthrifts include George IV of the United Kingdom,[3][4] King Ludwig II of Bavaria,[5] and Marie Antoinette the Queen of France.
[6] The term is often used by news media as an adjective applied to governments who are thought to be wasting public money.
[9] William Hogarth's A Rake's Progress (1732–33) displays in a series of paintings the spiralling fortunes of a wealthy but spendthrift son and heir who loses his money, and who as a consequence is imprisoned in the Fleet Prison and ultimately Bedlam.
Receivership is another equitable remedy for a spendthrift, by which a state-court-appointed trustee or attorney manages and sells the property of the debtor in default on debts.