Profligate, playing awful set (8)
I believe the answer is:
wasteful
'profligate' is the definition.
('wasteful' can be similar in meaning to 'profligate')
'playing awful set' is the wordplay.
'playing' indicates an anagram.
'awful'+'set'='awfulset'
'awfulset' with letters rearranged gives 'WASTEFUL'.
(Other definitions for wasteful that I've seen before include "Extravagant" , "Awful set (anag.)" , "Prodigal" , "spendthrift" , "Faults we consider being profligate" .)