Synonyms of spending

spending

verb

present participle of spend

1

as in paying

to hand over or use up in payment

I always end up spending too much money at the mall

Synonyms & Similar Words

• paying
• giving
• expending
• disbursing
• wasting
• laying out
• outlaying
• dropping
• shelling out
• forking (over, out, or up)
• lavishing
• raining
• squandering
• dissipating
• blowing
• running through
• throwing away
• frittering (away)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• saving
• making
• earning
• hoarding
• acquiring
• securing
• realizing
• procuring
• winning
• gaining
• laying up
• caching
• garnering

2

as in consuming

to make complete use of

the town has already spent its budget for snow removal, and it's only January

Synonyms & Similar Words

• consuming
• draining
• exhausting
• reducing
• absorbing
• burning
• eating
• using
• depleting
• expending
• wasting
• devouring
• decreasing
• emptying
• playing out
• drawing down
• running out of
• using up
• lowering
• diminishing
• weakening
• downsizing
• dwindling
• undermining
• bankrupting
• crippling
• impoverishing
• lessening
• sapping
• cleaning (out)
• blowing
• squandering
• debilitating
• misspending
• disabling
• abating
• lavishing
• enfeebling
• guzzling
• drying up
• dissipating
• de-escalating
• throwing away
• running through
• frittering (away)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• increasing
• replacing
• renewing
• enforcing
• enlarging
• reinforcing
• strengthening
• augmenting
• repairing
• restoring
• rebuilding
• saving
• preserving
• reviving
• conserving
• bolstering
• fortifying

3

as in wasting

to use up carelessly

spent all his energy on impractical schemes

Synonyms & Similar Words

• wasting
• losing
• squandering
• lavishing
• blowing
• misspending
• consuming
• dissipating
• running through
• throwing away
• trifling (away)
• overspending
• frittering (away)
• splurging
• indulging
• fiddling away
• playing ducks and drakes with
• depleting
• exhausting
• expending
• impoverishing
• disbursing
• shooting
• overindulging
• laying out

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• conserving
• protecting
• saving
• economizing
• preserving
• skimping
• scrimping
• hoarding
• laying up

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of spending

Recording a good voiceover can mean finding a narrator, booking studio time, or spending hours trying to get a usable take yourself. — Stackcommerce Team, PC Magazine, 20 Sep. 2026

Campaign The two candidates are spending millions of dollars to get elected, and the money is apparent with the high frequency of television commercials, sometimes as often as four times per hour on one station. — Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 20 Sep. 2026

BigLaw firms are spending to hire top-name engineers and transforming themselves into tech companies behind the scenes. — Logan Brown, Fortune, 20 Sep. 2026

The milliner has been spending a lot of time in Australia of late. — Samantha Conti, Footwear News, 20 Sep. 2026

Wyatt Lohaus arrived to the Kings after spending the 2025-26 as a fellow with the Mississippi State men’s basketball program. — Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 19 Sep. 2026

The agency might even take the opportunity to completely redesign the disastrous Ashland, Armitage and Elston Avenue intersection and save generations of Chicagoans the headache of spending 15 minutes navigating through a single stoplight. — Chicago Tribune, 19 Sep. 2026

Robert Saleh arrives in Tennessee after spending 2025 as defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers, returning to a head-coaching role after nearly four seasons leading the New York Jets. — Jenny Catlin, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026

Meeting Kimberly Schlapman at Samford University, singing together in choir, and spending college summers performing in North Carolina. — Sid Evans, Southern Living, 8 Sep. 2026