1
as in wastefulness
an instance of spending money or resources without care or restraint
it seems like a waste to spend my entire paycheck on a bigger TV
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in garbage
discarded or useless material
gathered up the waste when he was finished sewing
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3
as in desert
land that is uninhabited or not fit for crops
an area that was a barren waste after the strip-mining had ended
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4
as in dung
solid matter discharged from an animal's alimentary canal
a local ordinance requiring dog owners to properly dispose of their pet's waste
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5
as in expansion
a wide space or area
a legendary mariner doomed to sail the watery wastes of the world until Judgment Day
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6
as in erosion
a gradual weakening, loss, or destruction
the slow waste of the once broad beach by the relentless tide
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1
as in to spend
to use up carelessly
he wasted his lottery winnings on booze-soaked nights with gold diggers
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2
as in to ruin
to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of
one country attempting to waste another
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3
as in to weaken
to diminish the physical strength of
endless months of inactivity wasted him
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as in barren
producing inferior or only a small amount of vegetation
waste acreage that was not fit for anything
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of waste
Doug Ross, Chicago Tribune, 30 Jan. 2026
But what a waste of a great comic.
—Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 30 Jan. 2026
Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026
After all, efficiency rules at both ends of the spectrum and there are just too many emails to waste time actually reading them all.
—New Atlas, 23 Jan. 2026
Lauren Weber, WSJ, 17 May 2021
The new anti-waste law aims to encourage buyers to repair their devices rather than replace them with new products.
—Chris Smith, BGR, 26 Feb. 2021
See All Example Sentences for waste
Noun
Mrvan helped Northwest Indiana land a hydrogen hub for BP’s Whiting Refinery, a project to turn waste carbon into hydrogen.
—Doug Ross, Chicago Tribune, 30 Jan. 2026
But what a waste of a great comic.
—Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 30 Jan. 2026
Verb
Most entrepreneurs waste 80% of their time on tasks worth 20% of their value.
—Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026
After all, efficiency rules at both ends of the spectrum and there are just too many emails to waste time actually reading them all.
—New Atlas, 23 Jan. 2026
Adjective
For many of them, working at a high-growth company with a feel-good, anti-waste mission had felt like the pinnacle of their working lives.
—Lauren Weber, WSJ, 17 May 2021
The new anti-waste law aims to encourage buyers to repair their devices rather than replace them with new products.
—Chris Smith, BGR, 26 Feb. 2021
See All Example Sentences for waste
Recent Examples of Synonyms for waste
Noun
-
She’s also previously called out wastefulness in the music industry specifically.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
30 Oct. 2025
-
However, Bompastor’s side did little at first to shake worries about their wastefulness in front of goal.—
Cerys Jones,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Installed on the former garbage dump bounded by Sunset, Lewis, Western and Glen Flora avenues, there are now 20,000 solar panels.—
Charles Selle,
Chicago Tribune,
12 Jan. 2026
-
Rescuers retrieved eight people alive and were searching for the missing still trapped after a huge mound of garbage and debris collapsed on them in the village of Binaliw in Cebu city, police said.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
After vacations in Hawaii, Italy and then Thailand, some season 3 cast members hoped the location of the upcoming season might be somewhere snowy, while others wished for a desert.—
Amarachi Orie,
CNN Money,
30 Jan. 2026
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There are also on-demand classes for desert bathing, sound baths, boxing, and more for a $20 fee each.—
Asonta Benetti,
Condé Nast Traveler,
30 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The streets are begrimed by factory smoke, fecund with horse dung and lit by lanterns.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Jan. 2026
-
These rodents left 15 pieces of dung on top of the dishwasher.—
David J. Neal,
Miami Herald,
19 Dec. 2025
Noun
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Howard, who had served as a second lieutenant with the Ninety‑Second Division, 366th Infantry in France during World War I, accused President Truman of using the Cold War to justify a sweeping peacetime expansion of America’s global military footprint.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Jan. 2026
-
India is positioning itself as the testbed where energy infrastructure meets AI expansion.—
Güney Yıldız,
Forbes.com,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Heavy snow, strong winds and coastal impacts such as beach erosion would be confined to areas right along the coast from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, as the storm turns into a bomb cyclone and moves northeastward through Monday.—
Andrew Freedman,
CNN Money,
27 Jan. 2026
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Storms, mudslides and erosion also routinely have caused short-term closures in the Malibu area, where the road is typically known as the Pacific Coast Highway, adding to a long list of the highway’s costly and inconvenient repairs.—
Grace Toohey,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Joabe Barbosa, Matthew Plese and Omar Yousaf spent the day riding the entire MARTA rail system in an attempt to complete the full route in roughly three hours.—
Kaley Fedko,
CBS News,
9 Jan. 2026
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Visitors can spend their entire trip switching off between the two, but be sure to take some time to explore the rocky cove beaches called calas that have made Costa Blanca famous.—
Liz Provencher,
Travel + Leisure,
9 Jan. 2026
Verb
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And, from this week’s issue, Nicola Twilley’s reporting on another lingering effect of the wildfires—smoke taint that is ruining grapes and threatening California’s wine industry.—
Dana Goodyear,
New Yorker,
7 Jan. 2026
-
This will either change your life or ruin you.—
Outside Online,
Outside Online,
7 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Waste.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/waste. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.
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