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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in wastefulness
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1
as in spending
to use up carelessly
squandered all her money gambling in casinos
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of squandering
Sally Jenkins, The Atlantic, 5 Feb. 2026
Kiké Hernández followed with a flyout to complete the squandering.
—Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2025
Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 29 May 2026
Some CEOs are using tokens to track how their teams are deploying AI, from the productive tokenmaxers overhauling their departments to the tone-deaf dabblers squandering compute on useless projects.
—Diane Brady, Fortune, 20 May 2026
And with the loss, the Dodgers (29-19) fell half a game back of the Padres (29-18), after squandering two separate opportunities with speedy Hyeseong Kim standing on third base with two out, and stranding men on first and second in the ninth.
—Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 19 May 2026
During the four-game skid, the Cubs have gone 1-for-27 with RISP while squandering 25 baserunners.
—Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune, 14 May 2026
And be terrified of squandering it and hurting themselves much more than limiting player salaries would help them.
—Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 7 May 2026
Houston looked good from the start in this one after squandering a six-point lead in the final 26 seconds of regulation in a devastating 112-108 overtime loss Friday night.
—CBS News, 27 Apr. 2026
The gravity of the Game 2 loss, squandering homecourt advantage, is finally clobbering them over the head.
—Troy Renck, Denver Post, 26 Apr. 2026
In 2005 his team failed to add a second Champions League title after squandering a 3–0 lead versus Liverpool FC to lose on penalties in one of the most dramatic finals in the competition’s history.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Apr. 2026
Noun
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
Kiké Hernández followed with a flyout to complete the squandering.
—Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2025
Verb
John Woods, Lombard Odier’s Asia chief investment officer, warned that many families risk squandering wealth without stronger governance and planning frameworks.
—Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 29 May 2026
Some CEOs are using tokens to track how their teams are deploying AI, from the productive tokenmaxers overhauling their departments to the tone-deaf dabblers squandering compute on useless projects.
—Diane Brady, Fortune, 20 May 2026
And with the loss, the Dodgers (29-19) fell half a game back of the Padres (29-18), after squandering two separate opportunities with speedy Hyeseong Kim standing on third base with two out, and stranding men on first and second in the ninth.
—Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 19 May 2026
During the four-game skid, the Cubs have gone 1-for-27 with RISP while squandering 25 baserunners.
—Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune, 14 May 2026
And be terrified of squandering it and hurting themselves much more than limiting player salaries would help them.
—Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 7 May 2026
Houston looked good from the start in this one after squandering a six-point lead in the final 26 seconds of regulation in a devastating 112-108 overtime loss Friday night.
—CBS News, 27 Apr. 2026
The gravity of the Game 2 loss, squandering homecourt advantage, is finally clobbering them over the head.
—Troy Renck, Denver Post, 26 Apr. 2026
In 2005 his team failed to add a second Champions League title after squandering a 3–0 lead versus Liverpool FC to lose on penalties in one of the most dramatic finals in the competition’s history.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for squandering
Adjective
-
The city controller has no power over local policy, legislation or the city’s budget, but can often shed light on wasteful spending or fraud and pressure politicians by releasing audits and reports on city departments.—
Sandra McDonald,
Los Angeles Times,
29 May 2026
-
Is its packaging consciously designed or needlessly wasteful?—
Eden Stuart,
Allure,
29 May 2026
Noun
-
Sure enough, Spurs’ wastefulness was punished.—
Jack Pitt-Brooke,
New York Times,
12 May 2026
-
Gabriel also acknowledged lawmakers’ responsibility to oversee state spending seriously as well, and would be scrutinizing government programs for wastefulness.—
Andrew Graham,
Sacbee.com,
13 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
The idea to create a docu-fiction where a character is inserted into real-life environments to interact with unsuspecting locals came to Ribeiro after spending long periods of time in El Paso as a journalist covering immigration.—
Carlos Aguilar,
Los Angeles Times,
28 May 2026
-
The bottom line As gorgeous as these phones are, that alone cannot justify spending a ton of money on them.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
27 May 2026
Verb
-
Counter-protesters showed up toward the end and shouted toward the Hernandez supporters and the two sides exchanged some words before dispersing.—
Marisa Ingemi,
Los Angeles Times,
31 May 2026
-
Following the formal remarks, attendees gathered for the official ribbon cutting before dispersing throughout the corridor for an open house, live jazz performances and visiting businesses across the district.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
29 May 2026
Noun
-
Control was wrested back towards the end of the period, a sign of better things to come, even if that profligacy that has dogged them so much reared once again in stoppage time at the end of the half.—
Matt Woosnam,
New York Times,
28 May 2026
-
Such profligacy slows real income growth, deters hiring, discourages innovation and drives up interest rates.—
Editorial,
Boston Herald,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Meanwhile, the public has become critical of the war as gas prices continue to soar and Republicans face losing control of the House in the upcoming November Congressional elections.—
Peter Lucas,
Boston Herald,
30 May 2026
-
But losing on penalties will still make this moment one of the worst in their career.—
Ben Church,
CNN Money,
30 May 2026
Noun
-
These cooling elements provide an additional heat dissipation pathway from the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) package.—
Aditya Jadhav,
Interesting Engineering,
27 May 2026
-
Sunburn makes heat dissipation much more difficult.—
Jordan Green,
Memphis Commercial Appeal,
18 May 2026
Verb
-
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) has announced a raft of landmark rule changes that will come into force ahead of this summer’s World Cup, with the overarching objectives being to tackle discrimination, cut time-wasting, increase match tempo and improve fan and player experience.—
Jordan Campbell,
New York Times,
31 May 2026
-
Getting warships into the water is hard enough without wasting funds on vessels unlikely ever to sail.—
Editorial,
Boston Herald,
30 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Squandering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/squandering. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.
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