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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

His legacy was one of self-destruction, an elite major leaguer who drank himself out of the game, squandering his potential for greatness. — Paul Duggan, Washington Post, 10 Oct. 2026 The Braves suffered a dreadful defeat Wednesday in Game 2 of the Wild Card series, squandering a late lead to lose 4-3 to the Phillies and force a winner-take-all Game 3. — Gabriel Burns, AJC.com, 1 Oct. 2026 The United States, however, risks squandering this opportunity by not prioritizing its relationship with Japan. — David Sacks, Foreign Affairs, 28 Sep. 2026 However, conventional disposal tactics like landfills and incineration trigger severe environmental pollution while squandering valuable resources. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 21 Sep. 2026 Given the way this roster is constructed, squandering those chances is impossible to overcome. — Chandler Rome, New York Times, 13 Sep. 2026 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 The Valkyries needed a big second half after squandering a double-digit lead late in the second quarter. — ABC News, 2 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for squandering

Adjective

Supporters say the measure aims to cut wasteful government spending by requiring audits for new state special taxes.

— Queenie Wong, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026
Congressional Republicans got rid of the EV tax credit last year after long arguing that markets, not the government, should influence what Americans drive, and dubbed the tax credit wasteful spending.

— Willa Rubin, NPR, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of wasteful

Verb

After arriving at the hospital and spending nearly an hour with hospital staff filling out paperwork, I was handed another form accepting financial responsibility.

— Scott Levenson, New York Daily News, 18 Oct. 2026
Teams are tight-knit, spending practically every moment together from Spring Training through October in what can be described as a 162-game marathon.

— Don Riddell, CNN Money, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of spending

Verb

In contrast, peregrine falcons that breed in Alaska migrate almost directly south, dispersing across the Americas to wintering grounds that extend as far as southern South America.

— Amy L. Scarpignato, The Conversation, 16 Oct. 2026
Israeli troops later arrived in Abu Falah and drove up to the village after dispersing the crowd in the olive groves.

— Sam Metz, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of dispersing

Noun

Decades of fiscal profligacy, including the costs of an extended conflict with Japan in Korea, had drained the imperial treasury.

— Carl Minzner, Foreign Affairs, 5 Oct. 2026
His first-half profligacy, at odds with his attacking threat, exemplified that notion.

— Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 13 Aug. 2026

Definition of profligacy

Verb

Atlanta reached the Finals for the first time since 2013 and after losing in its previous three appearances in the championship round, will be trying for their first as well.

— ABC News, ABC News, 17 Oct. 2026
Tim Boyd San Juan Capistrano I’m sure there are Dodgers fans unhappy about losing to the Brewers.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of losing

Noun

To surmount the issue, Apple routed a flexible graphite pipe through the hinge itself to transfer heat between the two halves, thereby increasing the surface area available for heat dissipation.

— Eric Zeman, PC Magazine, 12 Oct. 2026
The years that followed were plagued by stagnation and dissipation of any peace process, regular wars with Hamas, and a heavily nationalist government in Israel.

— Dahlia Scheindlin, Time, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of dissipation

Verb

Advertisement Buy portions that match your appetite Throwing away part of a chicken breast means wasting more than dinner.

— Angela Haupt, Time, 16 Oct. 2026
Chronicling the hyper-niche behaviors that define our online existence, Berlant describes the seemingly inescapable embarrassment of wasting one’s life away in an endless scroll.

— Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of wasting

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squanderers

squandering

squanders

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“Squandering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/squandering. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of squandering

adjective

noun

verb

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