Synonyms of squandering

squandering 1 of 3

adjective

as in wasteful

given to spending money freely or foolishly

the nightclub's ridiculous prices seem geared to squandering revelers with more money than sense

Synonyms & Similar Words

• wasteful
• profligate
• prodigal
• extravagant
• spendthrift
• generous
• careless
• high-rolling
• lavish
• reckless
• unthrifty
• liberal
• philanthropic
• bountiful
• thriftless
• improvident
• unstinting
• heedless
• munificent
• shortsighted
• injudicious
• openhanded
• imprudent
• myopic
• unselfish
• charitable
• incautious
• bighearted
• indulgent
• unsparing
• splurging
• openhearted
• unwise
• freehanded
• self-indulgent
• wanton
• freehearted

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• conserving
• economical
• spare
• frugal
• thrifty
• sparing
• cheap
• miserly
• close
• mean
• stingy
• parsimonious
• pinching
• economizing
• penurious
• careful
• tight
• skimping
• scrimping
• judicious
• tightfisted
• wise
• prudent
• penny-pinching
• sensible
• stinting
• provident
• closefisted
• foresighted
• farsighted
• forehanded
• foreseeing
• forethoughtful

squandering

2 of 3

noun

as in wastefulness

Related Words

• wastefulness
• profligacy
• dissipation
• wastage
• profusion
• loss
• overindulgence
• excess
• indulgence
• splurge
• luxury
• prodigality
• extravagance
• self-indulgence
• overkill
• waste
• immoderacy

Dissimilar Words

• necessity
• saving
• economy
• conservation
• thrift
• frugality
• parsimony
• economizing
• restraint
• skimping
• scrimping
• moderation
• temperance
• belt-tightening
• austerity
• penny-pinching
• temperateness

squandering

3 of 3

verb

present participle of squander

1

as in spending

to use up carelessly

squandered all her money gambling in casinos

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

2

as in dispersing

to cause (members of a group) to move widely apart

a single blast of the shotgun squandered the herd of deer

Synonyms & Similar Words

• dispersing
• dissipating
• scattering
• dispelling
• isolating
• disbanding
• segregating
• disseminating
• separating
• parting
• clearing out
• splitting (up)
• diffusing
• spreading
• diverging
• breaking up

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• collecting
• concentrating
• assembling
• gathering
• congregating
• clustering
• ingathering
• uniting
• agglutinating
• unifying
• conglomerating

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of squandering

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

This is the sort of managerial aimlessness the Post is being governed by, just one example of the missteps and squandering of opportunity framed as strategy. — Sally Jenkins, The Atlantic, 5 Feb. 2026

Verb

The Valkyries needed a big second half after squandering a double-digit lead late in the second quarter. — ABC News, 2 Aug. 2026

But Congress is on the verge of making a terrible mistake by squandering the opportunity to appropriately regulate this industry that has fought for clarity for so long. — Anthony Scaramucci, Fortune, 1 Aug. 2026

And yet, the league is in danger of squandering it because too many of its players and too much of the media can't focus on basketball while a straight White woman from Iowa is starring in the league. — Bobby Burack Outkick, FOXNews.com, 28 July 2026

Throw in Green Bay squandering a nine-point, third quarter lead and losing to Denver, plus the Packers blowing a 13-point lead against Dallas and settling for a tie and no team in football was worse at closing time. — Rob Reischel, Forbes.com, 26 July 2026

Before the All-Star break, Alex Call squandering both of the Dodgers’ available challenges, all in the second inning. — Johnny Flores Jr, New York Times, 20 July 2026

The firing of Fedorov has led to panic in many Western pro-Ukraine circles, with observers fearing Zelensky is squandering Ukraine’s recent bout of good fortune through firing the mastermind of Ukraine’s drone advancements. — Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 16 July 2026

The African team took the lead and had chances to extend it, but ultimately paid dearly for squandering those opportunities. — Eduard Cauich, Los Angeles Times, 4 July 2026

Iyanla Vanzant, the program’s host, chided Holmes for squandering much of her fortune, buying properties and paying allowances to hangers-on. — Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 28 June 2026