SQUANDERING Synonyms: 156 Similar and Opposite Words

squandering 1 of 3

adjective

as in wasteful

given to spending money freely or foolishly the nightclub's ridiculous prices seem geared to squandering revelers with more money than sense

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squandering

2 of 3

noun

as in wastefulness

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Dissimilar Words

squandering

3 of 3

verb

present participle of squander

as in spending

to use up carelessly squandered all her money gambling in casinos

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in dispersing

to cause (members of a group) to move widely apart a single blast of the shotgun squandered the herd of deer

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of squandering

Noun

An everyman figure squeezing every bit of talent from his frame, a boy who returned to working as a fisherman after the first squandering of his football dream, from a family that could not always afford to buy him studded boots. — Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 19 June 2026 Watching students use that platform to walk out on the CEO of one of the world’s most consequential companies clearly struck him as a squandering of rare privilege. — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 15 June 2026 This is the sort of managerial aimlessness the Post is being governed by, just one example of the missteps and squandering of opportunity framed as strategy. — Sally Jenkins, The Atlantic, 5 Feb. 2026

Verb

Around baseball, the Halos became an absolute punchline for squandering the prime years of Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani on the exact same roster. — Alejandro Avila Outkick, FOXNews.com, 1 Sep. 2026 In squandering a 10-point lead over the final seven minutes, the Steelers closed the preseason 1-2. — CBS News, 28 Aug. 2026 This year, though, with the Jays exiting a buy-and-sell deadline in danger of squandering their season, Kirk’s latest heater might be season-saving. — Mitch Bannon, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2026 The Valkyries needed a big second half after squandering a double-digit lead late in the second quarter. — ABC News, 2 Aug. 2026 But Congress is on the verge of making a terrible mistake by squandering the opportunity to appropriately regulate this industry that has fought for clarity for so long. — Anthony Scaramucci, Fortune, 1 Aug. 2026 Throw in Green Bay squandering a nine-point, third quarter lead and losing to Denver, plus the Packers blowing a 13-point lead against Dallas and settling for a tie and no team in football was worse at closing time. — Rob Reischel, Forbes.com, 26 July 2026 The firing of Fedorov has led to panic in many Western pro-Ukraine circles, with observers fearing Zelensky is squandering Ukraine’s recent bout of good fortune through firing the mastermind of Ukraine’s drone advancements. — Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 16 July 2026 The African team took the lead and had chances to extend it, but ultimately paid dearly for squandering those opportunities. — Eduard Cauich, Los Angeles Times, 4 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for squandering

Adjective

Take a look at who is spending tax money responsibly — on ballfields, water-quality projects, help for victims of crime, no-kill animal shelters and other popular priorities — and who is being wasteful.

— Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 23 Aug. 2026
Republican response But conservatives said those policies inflated enrollment by attracting fraudulent and wasteful coverage.

— Christine Mai-Duc, NPR, 23 Aug. 2026

Definition of wasteful

Verb

He was allowed to leave the country, spending weeks at a rehab facility in Switzerland.

— Bob Harkins, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2026
In the sweet snaps, the mother-son duo could be seen spending time together on the beach, posing after a tennis lesson and hanging out on vacation.

— Georgia Slater, PEOPLE, 1 Sep. 2026

Definition of spending

Verb

The Retired Police Canine Foundation was selected as the recipient of these funds and is in charge of dispersing them to handlers across the state.

— Sofia Saric, Miami Herald, 25 Aug. 2026
Open clusters are young clusters of stars that were born together and are now gradually dispersing, and Auriga’s open clusters are some of the best and brightest of their kind in the night sky.

— Gemma Lavender, Space.com, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of dispersing

Noun

Physical test rigs to study fluid movement The team has also set up physical test rigs to study fluid movement and heat dissipation under realistic conditions.

— Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 29 Aug. 2026
That's increasingly difficult as chips become smaller and new solutions are needed to address signal integrity, power delivery, and heat dissipation.

— Zev Fima, CNBC, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of dissipation

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squanderers

squandering

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“Squandering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/squandering. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of squandering

adjective

noun

verb

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