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

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 team became notorious for collapsing, squandering double-digit leads in three crucial games with 1-in-250,000 odds. — Rob Reischel, Forbes.com, 8 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

San Antonio was down by 14 midway through the final quarter, after already squandering a double-digit lead of its own, then went on a 14-0 run to tie the game, then briefly took the lead when Wembanyama had a three-point play with just under a minute left. — Ryan Morik Outkick, FOXNews.com, 6 June 2026

So this also is a big, fat L for the Bears, which overplayed its hand and mismanaged the entire process, squandering all kinds of good will in the process. — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 1 June 2026

The military rulers who seized power in 1966 would use that failure as a pretext to maintain their hold on power, accusing the civilian government of corruption and squandering the nation’s wealth. — ABC News, 31 May 2026