as in to spend
to use up carelessly
warned that a childhood spent hanging around indoors was a misspent youth indeed
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Recent Examples of misspend
Glen Gilzean, who left his Orange County post accused of misspending millions in taxpayer dollars, has been tapped as the new CEO of the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County.
—
Alexa Coultoff, The Orlando Sentinel, 7 Apr. 2026
On Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission chairman sent Newsom a letter demanding information about the state’s Next Generation 911 project and accused the governor of misspending state and federal dollars.
—William Melhado, Sacbee.com, 12 Feb. 2026
Another is the surprising fact that no Florida law specifically prohibits public officials from misspending public funds on political advertising.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 23 Jan. 2026
There are literally a million better ways to stop food waste than partnering with a family that has been convicted of felonies for misspending nonprofit money.
—Emily Barnes, USA Today, 24 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for misspend
Alexa Coultoff, The Orlando Sentinel, 7 Apr. 2026
On Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission chairman sent Newsom a letter demanding information about the state’s Next Generation 911 project and accused the governor of misspending state and federal dollars.
—William Melhado, Sacbee.com, 12 Feb. 2026
Another is the surprising fact that no Florida law specifically prohibits public officials from misspending public funds on political advertising.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 23 Jan. 2026
There are literally a million better ways to stop food waste than partnering with a family that has been convicted of felonies for misspending nonprofit money.
—Emily Barnes, USA Today, 24 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for misspend
Recent Examples of Synonyms for misspend
Verb
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But despite securing a conviction, investigators spent decades trying to determine the identity of the teenage victim.—
Brittany Miller,
FOXNews.com,
7 June 2026
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Specifically, Hanold noted that $152 million spent by Permian equates to almost one quarter of drilling, based on this year's pace.—
TipRanks.com Staff,
CNBC,
7 June 2026
Verb
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His co-anchor Lu Parker and longtime KTLA meteorologist Mark Kriski also lost their jobs that day.—
Peter Larsen,
Daily News,
10 June 2026
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Bussi won 31 of 39 starts in the regular season but lost some steam down the stretch, leading Brind’Amour to go with Andersen, a veteran, in Game 1 of the first round.—
Michael Russo,
New York Times,
10 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Misspend.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/misspend. Accessed 14 Jun. 2026.
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