dissipating 1 of 3

adjective

as in wasting

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

dissipating

2 of 3

noun

as in squandering

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

dissipating

3 of 3

verb

present participle of dissipate
1
as in dispersing
to cause (members of a group) to move widely apart dissipated the enemy forces with unremitting artillery fire

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in spending
to use up carelessly dissipated the family fortune in reckless business ventures

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in dissolving
to go off in different directions and cease to exist as a body or unified whole the fog should dissipate once the sun comes out in full force

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 dissipating
Noun
Between these times, every stage moves from fullness and being a light to finding your light dissipating and toward the crescent. — Lizz Schumer, PEOPLE, 5 Jan. 2026 Hubble’s more recent imagery shows the dissipating remains of the smash encounter. — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 18 Dec. 2025
Verb
When these four things align, effort stops dissipating and starts compounding. — Jeff Winters, Forbes.com, 27 July 2026 The system then turned southeastward and southward before dissipating just west of northern Portugal on October 15. — Laura Payne, Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 July 2026 The storm was forecast to reach the upper Texas coast on Thursday before dissipating inland in Texas by Friday. — ABC News, 23 July 2026 The storm was forecast to reach the upper Texas coast today before dissipating inland by tomorrow. — Daniela Suarez, NBC news, 23 July 2026 If mass transfer occurs too early, say millions of years before the final supernova blast, the team found that the material spreads far away from the binary stars, dissipating the surrounding cocoon. — Robert Lea, Space.com, 8 July 2026 In front of a predominantly Brazilian crowd and with the haze of a pre-match pyrotechnic display still dissipating, Norway seemed to leap out to a lead in the first few minutes with a goal by Patrick Berg, but it was quickly ruled offside. — Hannah Keyser, CNN Money, 5 July 2026 Cristina dumped rain across Central America late last week before dissipating. — Doyle Rice, USA Today, 15 June 2026 Worries are accelerating that the burst of inflation is broadening, as the jump in oil prices starts to spread through the economy and raise expectations that inflation isn’t dissipating anytime soon. — Jeff Cox, CNBC, 9 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dissipating
  1. wasteful
  2. squandering
  3. dispersing
  4. spending
  5. dissolving
  6. profligate
  7. losing
  8. disappearing
Adjective
  • Williams’s platform is based on restoring law and order, school choice, cutting wasteful government spending, and expanding the American dream.
    — Molly Parks, The Washington Examiner, 1 Aug. 2026
  • Effects of laws against idling In short, anti-idling laws target potentially severe pollution health risks from what is generally a wasteful practice of convenience.
    — Richard Marcantonio, The Conversation, 31 July 2026
Definition of wasteful
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
Definition of squandering
Verb
  • Instead of continuing his work with Gates, Buffett has begun dispersing his wealth entirely through his children.
    — Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 17 July 2026
  • The same number of stars will be in the league, and better dispersing them throughout all 30 markets could help revive interest across the country.
    — Bryan Toporek, Forbes.com, 17 July 2026
Definition of dispersing
Verb
  • Or spending a day bouncing in the waves on a Caribbean island or on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
    — Patricia Doherty, Travel + Leisure, 5 Aug. 2026
  • An adjusted cap wouldn’t simply benefit bigger-spending clubs, though.
    — John Cassillo, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of spending
Verb
  • If your dispenser has a latch that flaps open, make sure there is nothing blocking the flap to keep the pod from releasing and dissolving.
    — Natalia Gonzalez Blanco Serrano, The Spruce, 1 Aug. 2026
  • Earlier this month, a Hamas official publicly announced that the group was dissolving its government so the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza could take over.
    — Emma Nicholson, CBS News, 31 July 2026
Definition of dissolving
Adjective
  • Just as life in industrial urban centers in the nineteenth century caused hardship in rural villages, the profligate lifestyles enjoyed by those of us in the Global North are underwritten by the immiseration of those in the Global South.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 July 2026
  • Avoid the impulse to label someone as cheap or profligate after one or two dates, AARP advises.
    — Daniel de Visé, USA Today, 6 June 2026
Definition of profligate
Verb
  • After all, Femi, after losing once to Lesnar, has no business losing to anyone else on WWE’s roster anytime soon.
    — Blake Oestriecher, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026
  • Those allegations had resulted in her losing custody of her children long before the shooting.
    — Isabel Rosales, CNN Money, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of losing
Verb
  • As Fortune reported, a generation watching AI hollow out entry-level work is increasingly deciding to skip corporate careers altogether rather than line up for a bottom rung that's disappearing anyway.
    — Alli Kushner, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
  • Public records related to the LAPD began disappearing from a city of Los Angeles website last April, according to a UCLA professor.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2026
Definition of disappearing

Browse Nearby Words

dissipates
dissipating
dissipation
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Dissipating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dissipating. Accessed 6 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on dissipating

Nglish: Translation of dissipating for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of torpor

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

'Sneaked' or 'Snuck': Which is correct?

Why does English have so many silent letters?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

How long is a jiffy?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
asap street sign
Figure Out These Acronyms ASAP You don't have to be a NASA engineer to get these...
See All