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

At 28 years old, the sizeable outlay on the Brazilian midfielder continues Arsenal’s ploy of spending big money on players who can immediately improve their first team. — Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 12 Aug. 2026

But that also means that a large number of folks who don't have so many assets might be better off spending their dollars on risk management and insurance. — Jay Adkisson, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2026

Major cloud service providers like Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon are engaged in a frenzied bid to keep up with the demand for AI services, and are spending hundreds of billions of dollars to compete. — Camila Grigera Naón, Fortune, 11 Aug. 2026

After spending time with Lavie, the victim reported missing a Rolex worth $8,600, Louis Vuitton sunglasses worth about $700 and a Louis Vuitton card holder worth nearly $2,000, Plata said. — Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 11 Aug. 2026

That won't change with more people spending more time to figure out a way to salvage it. — Sarah N. Lynch, CBS News, 11 Aug. 2026

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

The National Gallery has been criticized after spending £250,000 on its NG Citizens program. — George Nelson, ARTnews.com, 4 Aug. 2026

Last year, small market teams benefited from spending by the richest franchises—nine teams paid $403 million in luxury tax penalties last season. — Kurt Badenhausen, Sportico.com, 4 Aug. 2026