fritter away
verb
frittered away; frittering away; fritters away
: to spend or use up (something) in a slow and usually foolish way
He frittered the afternoon away.
He frittered away his fortune on gambling.
Examples of fritter away in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
But the money is there to mitigate it like never before and it has been frittered away.
—
James Horncastle, New York Times, 12 Mar. 2026
Mostly a bunch of early postseason exits, and a team this year spending the final days of the season trying to make the playoffs after frittering away a big lead to the Philadelphia Phillies.
—Barry M. Bloom, Sportico.com, 24 Sep. 2025
Such a deal would make diplomatic history; Israel and Syria are historic enemies, having fought numerous wars against each other, and a previous attempt to strike a peace agreement between the two by the Bill Clinton administration ultimately frittered away.
—Daniel Depetris, Chicago Tribune, 26 Aug. 2025
The group frittered away their label’s cash and several albums worth of material as their momentum stalled.
—Thomas Smith, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
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James Horncastle, New York Times, 12 Mar. 2026
Mostly a bunch of early postseason exits, and a team this year spending the final days of the season trying to make the playoffs after frittering away a big lead to the Philadelphia Phillies.
—Barry M. Bloom, Sportico.com, 24 Sep. 2025
Such a deal would make diplomatic history; Israel and Syria are historic enemies, having fought numerous wars against each other, and a previous attempt to strike a peace agreement between the two by the Bill Clinton administration ultimately frittered away.
—Daniel Depetris, Chicago Tribune, 26 Aug. 2025
The group frittered away their label’s cash and several albums worth of material as their momentum stalled.
—Thomas Smith, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Fritter away.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fritter%20away. Accessed 28 Apr. 2026.
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