Meaning & use
splurge
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Meanings
verbintransitiveinformal
To spend a lot of money on something enjoyable that you do not really need.
Grammar: No object; the thing bought usually follows on: splurge on a new coat.
Patterns
- splurge on something
- splurge on doing something
We splurged on a fancy dinner for our anniversary.
She rarely shops, but she splurged on a designer bag last month.
Let's splurge on good seats for the concert.
verbtransitiveinformal
To spend more money than usual on a particular thing, often briefly.
Grammar: Can take a sum of money as its object: splurge $200 on shoes.
Patterns
- splurge something on something
- splurge money on something
He splurged his whole bonus on a weekend trip.
They splurged a fortune on the wedding.
nouncountableinformal
An occasion when you spend a lot of money on something enjoyable.
Grammar: Countable; often used with a: a splurge on something.
Patterns
- a splurge on something
Buying that car was a real splurge.
After payday, we had a little splurge at the mall.
Word forms
| third person singular | splurges |
|---|---|
| past tense | splurged |
| past participle | splurged |
| -ing form | splurging |
| plural | splurges |
Common combinations
- splurge on something
- They splurged on a luxury hotel for one night.
- a real splurge
- The spa weekend was a real splurge.
- splurge a little
- Go on, splurge a little—you've earned it.
- splurge on yourself
- Every now and then you should splurge on yourself.
- a spending splurge
- The holiday season brings a spending splurge.
Synonyms and how they differ
- splash out
- British and informal; it also means spending freely on a treat, but it always needs out: splash out on a new phone.
- treat yourself
- Focuses on the pleasure you give yourself rather than the large amount of money spent.
- indulge
- More formal and often suggests giving in to a desire; it does not always involve spending money.
Opposites
Word family
- splurgy adjective
- Informal and rare; describes something expensive bought as a treat.
Commonly confused: splurge or purge?
splurge vs purge
Purge means to remove or get rid of something; splurge is only about spending money freely.
Practice
Which sentence uses splurge correctly?
Choose one answer.
Splurge on something is the standard pattern, so 'splurged on a weekend' is correct. 'Splurged a weekend' wrongly treats the event as the money spent, and the other options use impossible prepositions or verb forms.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “splurge”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.