Synonyms of spends

spends

verb

present tense third-person singular of spend

1

as in pays

to hand over or use up in payment

I always end up spending too much money at the mall

Synonyms & Similar Words

• pays
• gives
• expends
• disburses
• outlays
• lays out
• wastes
• drops
• shells out
• lavishes
• forks (over, out, or up)
• rains
• squanders
• dissipates
• runs through
• blows
• throws away
• fritters (away)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• saves
• earns
• makes
• realizes
• acquires
• wins
• procures
• secures
• hoards
• lays up
• gains
• caches
• garners

2

as in consumes

to make complete use of

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• consumes
• exhausts
• drains
• absorbs
• reduces
• uses
• expends
• burns
• eats
• depletes
• devours
• plays out
• decreases
• empties
• draws down
• runs out of
• wastes
• uses up
• diminishes
• lowers
• weakens
• downsizes
• dwindles
• undermines
• lessens
• impoverishes
• cleans (out)
• saps
• squanders
• blows
• cripples
• bankrupts
• lavishes
• disables
• debilitates
• guzzles
• abates
• de-escalates
• dissipates
• runs through
• enfeebles
• dries up
• throws away
• misspends
• fritters (away)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• replaces
• increases
• renews
• augments
• enforces
• reinforces
• enlarges
• repairs
• strengthens
• saves
• restores
• preserves
• revives
• conserves
• fortifies
• bolsters
• rebuilds

3

as in loses

to use up carelessly

spent all his energy on impractical schemes

Synonyms & Similar Words

• loses
• wastes
• lavishes
• squanders
• consumes
• blows
• runs through
• dissipates
• throws away
• misspends
• trifles (away)
• indulges
• fritters (away)
• expends
• plays ducks and drakes with
• fiddles away
• depletes
• exhausts
• impoverishes
• disburses
• overspends
• splurges
• overindulges
• shoots
• lays out

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• conserves
• protects
• economizes
• saves
• preserves
• skimps
• scrimps
• hoards
• lays up

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of spends

His aversion to seeing the deficit widen further on the back of a bigger military bill highlights a phenomenon observed by historian Niall Ferguson, who has said any great power that spends more on debt servicing than on defense risks ceasing to be a great power. —Jason Ma, Fortune, 2 May 2026

Apart from these rare public appearances, the young girl spends her days at Lambrook private school. —Séraphine Roger, Vanity Fair, 2 May 2026

Taylor, along with Eaddy Kiernan Bunzel and the rest of the events team, spends practically all of April in a conference room at the Vogue office, going over the seating chart, which lives on a large poster board that is kept top secret. —Madeleine Luckel, Vogue, 2 May 2026

Anyone who spends time on our freeways understands how invaluable those frequent reports can be. —Jim Alexander, Oc Register, 2 May 2026

For the mom who's a chef, and spends most weekends in her garden, this is the perfect gift. —Audrey Lee, Architectural Digest, 1 May 2026

BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers. —Bestreviews, Chicago Tribune, 1 May 2026

But Pritchard, who spends hours each offseason working on those exact situations, took one half-step to his right and two to his left to lose Oubre, then buried a 26-footer as the horn sounded. —Zack Cox, Hartford Courant, 25 Apr. 2026

One of Morgan’s priorities is to increase transparency around how California spends public dollars by publishing state agencies’ ledgers online and in real time. —William Melhado, Sacbee.com, 25 Apr. 2026