What does spendy mean?
Spendy is an informal adjective meaning expensive or inclined to spend money lavishly. It is most common in North American speech and is often used to describe restaurants, holidays, tastes, lifestyles, or other choices that seem excessively costly. The word can carry a mildly critical tone, suggesting that spending is extravagant or unnecessary, although it may simply emphasize high price. A person might be called spendy when they are generous with money or habitually buy costly things. Although the adjective is chiefly informal, it is readily understood and can be effective in conversational writing. Its connection to spending is direct: the word combines the idea of expenditure with the familiar -y ending that gives adjectives such as “pricey” and “fancy” a casual, familiar quality.
Requiring or involving a lot of money; expensive.
"That is a very spendy way to spend a weekend."
Informal and chiefly North American.
Inclined to spend money freely or lavishly.
"His spendy habits quickly exhausted his savings."
Often mildly disapproving.
The ending -y turns spending into a quick label for anything that leaves a dent in your wallet.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does spendy come from?
Spendy is a modern English adjective formed from the verb “spend” with the suffix “-y,” a productive ending used in informal words such as “pricey” and “fancy.” It belongs to a wider family of English terms derived from Latin expendere, including “expend,” “expense,” and “expenditure,” all expressing the idea of using or consuming resources.
How spendy is actually used
Informal and more common in North American English than British English. It can sound mildly critical or disapproving, especially when describing consumer habits.
Easily confused with spendy
Spendy describes something that is expensive or involves extravagant spending, whereas a spendthrift is a person who spends money wastefully.
Spendy means costly or lavish, while spent means used up, exhausted, or depleted.