dissipate 1 of 2

Definition of dissipatenext

dissipate

2 of 2

noun

Synonym Chooser

How does the verb dissipate differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of dissipate are dispel, disperse, and scatter. While all these words mean "to cause to separate or break up," dissipate stresses complete disintegration or dissolution and final disappearance.

the fog was dissipated by the morning sun

When could dispel be used to replace dissipate?

In some situations, the words dispel and dissipate are roughly equivalent. However, dispel stresses a driving away or getting rid of as if by scattering.

an authoritative statement that dispelled all doubt

When might disperse be a better fit than dissipate?

The synonyms disperse and dissipate are sometimes interchangeable, but disperse implies a wider separation and a complete breaking up of a mass or group.

police dispersed the crowd

When can scatter be used instead of dissipate?

While the synonyms scatter and dissipate are close in meaning, scatter implies a force that drives parts or units irregularly in many directions.

the bowling ball scattered the pins

How does the verb dissipate differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of dissipate are dispel, disperse, and scatter. While all these words mean "to cause to separate or break up," dissipate stresses complete disintegration or dissolution and final disappearance.

the fog was dissipated by the morning sun

When could dispel be used to replace dissipate?

In some situations, the words dispel and dissipate are roughly equivalent. However, dispel stresses a driving away or getting rid of as if by scattering.

an authoritative statement that dispelled all doubt

When might disperse be a better fit than dissipate?

The synonyms disperse and dissipate are sometimes interchangeable, but disperse implies a wider separation and a complete breaking up of a mass or group.

police dispersed the crowd

When can scatter be used instead of dissipate?

While the synonyms scatter and dissipate are close in meaning, scatter implies a force that drives parts or units irregularly in many directions.

the bowling ball scattered the pins

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 dissipate
Verb
But tensions within the American Jewish community have hardly dissipated since a peace deal was signed, in October, 2025. Eyal Press, New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2026 Any hope that the adrenaline of the regular season, or even of a short outing from the pen, would juice his velo dissipated. Tim Britton, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2026 Not long after noon, the crowd in Evanston began to dissipate. Shun Graves, Chicago Tribune, 30 Mar. 2026 The low clouds will dissipate by the afternoon, but skies will remain partly cloudy for the rest of the day. Greg Porter, San Francisco Chronicle, 25 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for dissipate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dissipate
Verb
  • In addition, unlike some carbon removal strategies that rely on transporting and dispersing large quantities of crushed rock, this method operates entirely on-site.
    Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 31 Mar. 2026
  • An electro-osmotic pump (a device that disperses liquids with electrical force) controls the fragrance delivery precisely, ensuring steady scent production with minimal timing gaps.
    Shirl Leigh March 31, New Atlas, 31 Mar. 2026
Verb
  • Factor in a tax multiplier for those who repeatedly spend past the salary cap, and payroll expenses can include hundreds of millions in taxes.
    Dan Sheldon, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2026
  • How in the world had my mother, a young Black woman and the eldest of four, raised by two parents who had never finished high school in a segregated town in southwestern Louisiana, spent a summer in Europe in the 1960s?
    Shayla Martin, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • The deputy gang narrative was a political campaign created to discredit my administration, never used during the McDonnell era, and mysteriously disappeared during the current administration.
    Opinion Staff, Daily News, 5 Apr. 2026
  • Predators disappeared, resulting in an explosion in deer, further degrading the woodlands and peatlands.
    Jen Murphy, Robb Report, 4 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • Start with your biggest time waster and build from there.
    Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026
  • For example, default settings for focus time added blocking of sites in the categories Shopping, Tabloids, and Time wasters.
    PCMAG, PCMAG, 13 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • One such affair claimed an extra life when the executioner’s son ascended the scaffold to brandish a head, lost his footing, and fell to his death.
    Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2026
  • The Rockets are a team that lost its starting point guard (Fred VanVleet) at the start of the year while the Knicks brought back and built upon the exact same core that punched the franchise’s first ticket to the conference finals in the last quarter-century.
    Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 1 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • But the superalignment team was dissolved the following year, without completing its mission.
    Ronan Farrow, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026
  • The bill to dissolve the program is set to be heard by the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday.
    Elizabeth Hernandez, Denver Post, 6 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • The split screen of Bezos and his spendthrift wife, Lauren Sánchez, frolicking everywhere — including Paris Fashion Week — while the tech mogul defiles the crown jewel nurtured by Ben Bradlee and Kay Graham is sickening.
    Maureen Dowd, Mercury News, 3 Feb. 2026
  • That is all the more reason the state must get a better handle on its spendthrift ways.
    The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 13 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • The leader of the Ex-Slave Pension Association was later imprisoned on mail fraud charges, and the organization faded away, while the Eagles became one of the pressure groups that eventually led to Social Security.
    Trevor Jackson, The New York Review of Books, 4 Apr. 2026
  • Pensions faded, and a new system of 401(k) retirement savings rewarded Americans for working longer.
    Daniel de Visé, USA Today, 4 Apr. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Dissipate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dissipate. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.

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