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Glite Dictionary
to splash out

to splash out

1 7.2
Spend a lot of money on something, usually to celebrate or treat yourself
  • phrasal verb
  • /splæʃ aʊt/
  • UK
: derrochar
  • For her anniversary, she decided to splash out on a luxurious dinner at a fancy restaurant.

Credit card data from Barclays and Bank of America show that Americans dialled back spending in June as fewer people splashed out on high end goods.

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Examples

  • I think I might have splashed out just a little bit too much.

    Men (2022)

  • Oh, you have been splashing out.

    Heavenly Creatures (1994)

  • You have been splashing out!

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Your sister splashed out on the bottle

    TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR (2023)

  • Jackie, they tell me you might be splashing out... on a sports car yourself.

    Waking Ned (1998)

  • And what I should have done is splashed out on the mascara.

  • He loves to splash out on expensive gadgets that he doesn't really need.

  • After saving for months, they finally splash out on a dream vacation to the Caribbean.

Synonyms

to go overboard
vsto splash out
  • Informal
45 4.4

To do something more than is needed

applies specifically to spending extravagantly rather than any extreme action
to shell out
vsto splash out
  • Informal
30 7.1

Pay a large amount of money even when you do not want to

is voluntary and for enjoyment rather than unwilling necessary payment
to splurge
vsto splash out
  • Informal
19 7.0

To spend a lot of money to treat yourself

is broader, meaning extravagant spending without the personal showy focus
to overspend
vsto splash out
7 4.4

To use more money than you can afford or planned to use

may be costly by choice, not necessarily unaffordable or unplanned
to push the boat out
vsto splash out
  • UK
1 8.7

Spend a lot of money for a special celebration

is broader, used for extravagant spending beyond just special occasions

Antonyms

to save
842 1.0

Prevent the need to spend time or money

to economize
  • US
7 5.0

Use money or resources carefully to avoid waste

How Extravagant

to splash out
  • UK
1 7.2
to spend
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

splash out infinitive
splashed out past
splashed out past participle
splashing out present participle
splashes out third person singular

Morphology

splash + out

The meaning 'to spend a lot of money' is a metaphorical extension of the literal 'splash' (scatter liquid) combined with 'out' (outward direction): the image of "splashing out" evokes freely dispersing resources, so there is a semantic link to the constituents. However, the spending sense is idiomatic and not strictly compositional, so a B1 learner who only knows the literal words might at best guess a general sense but would not reliably derive the exact monetary meaning without exposure.

Etymology

The phrasal verb splash out comes from a simple picture: imagine someone throwing water so it splashes loudly out of a bowl, a showy and wasteful action. That's why splash out means 'to spend a lot of money' in a showy or wasteful way.