Synonyms of wastes

wastes 1 of 2

noun

plural of waste

1

as in luxuries

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

• luxuries
• extravagances
• prodigalities
• wastages
• losses
• dissipations
• indulgences
• splurges
• excesses
• profusions
• profligacies
• overindulgences
• overkills
• self-indulgences
• immoderacies

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• necessities
• savings
• economies
• frugalities
• thrifts
• parsimonies
• conservations
• restraints
• austerities
• temperances
• penny-pinchings
• belt-tightenings
• moderations

2

as in deserts

land that is uninhabited or not fit for crops

an area that was a barren waste after the strip-mining had ended

Synonyms & Similar Words

• deserts
• barrens
• wastelands
• wildernesses
• heaths
• bushes
• desolations
• wilds
• no-man's-lands
• brushes
• badlands
• outdoors
• dust bowls
• natures

3

as in expanses

a wide space or area

a legendary mariner doomed to sail the watery wastes of the world until Judgment Day

Synonyms & Similar Words

• expanses
• expansions
• stretches
• reaches
• plains
• distances
• lengths
• sheets
• depths
• fields
• spreads
• breadths
• territories
• extents
• sweeps
• domains
• voids
• spheres
• spectra
• scales
• spans
• ranges
• extensions
• scopes
• magnitudes
• immensities
• latitudes
• gamuts
• amplitudes
• compasses

4

as in erosions

a gradual weakening, loss, or destruction

the slow waste of the once broad beach by the relentless tide

Synonyms & Similar Words

• erosions
• corrosions
• decays
• decompositions
• breakdowns
• attritions
• disintegrations
• dissolutions

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• increases
• gains
• buildups

wastes

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of waste

1

as in spends

to use up carelessly

he wasted his lottery winnings on booze-soaked nights with gold diggers

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

2

as in destroys

to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of

one country attempting to waste another

Synonyms & Similar Words

• destroys
• ruins
• demolishes
• wrecks
• devastates
• shatters
• smashes
• overcomes
• damages
• erodes
• pulverizes
• vaporizes
• annihilates
• desolates
• ravages
• extinguishes
• decimates
• wracks
• cripples
• totals
• mars
• nukes
• tears down
• razes
• rubs out
• kills
• pulls down
• creams
• removes
• breaks
• crushes
• does in
• dismantles
• blasts
• defeats
• spoils
• injures
• harms
• subdues
• conquers
• deteriorates
• disintegrates
• impairs
• licks
• masters
• dissolves
• surmounts
• prevails (over)
• disfigures
• bests
• wins (against)
• thrashes
• mutilates
• trims
• overbears
• eradicates
• clobbers
• triumphs (over)
• despoils
• vitiates
• dynamites
• sweeps (away)
• defaces
• routs
• guts
• whips
• scours
• plunders
• mangles
• blows up
• unmakes
• obliterates
• beats
• scotches
• exterminates
• slaughters
• trounces
• expunges
• undoes
• overmatches
• wears (away)
• wallops
• sacks
• wipes out
• washes out
• liquidates
• trashes
• assassinates
• tramples
• vandalizes
• disassembles
• murders
• extirpates
• loots
• slays
• stamps (out)
• effaces
• pillages
• drubs
• takes down
• blots out
• zaps
• roots (out)
• cuts down
• snuffs (out)
• kills off
• executes
• dispatches
• mows (down)
• skunks
• dilapidates
• takes out
• unbuilds
• fells
• massacres
• butchers
• havocs

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• builds
• raises
• constructs
• repairs
• creates
• sets up
• doctors
• produces
• erects
• fixes
• makes
• rears
• manufactures
• forms
• puts up
• invents
• constitutes
• shapes
• saves
• assembles
• fathers
• protects
• institutes
• establishes
• organizes
• brings about
• reconditions
• fashions
• conserves
• preserves
• frames
• mends
• founds
• patches
• revamps
• molds
• restores
• forges
• fabricates
• reconstructs
• rebuilds
• renovates
• remodels

3

as in weakens

to diminish the physical strength of

endless months of inactivity wasted him

Synonyms & Similar Words

• weakens
• softens
• exhausts
• saps
• hurts
• tires
• injures
• debilitates
• enfeebles
• enervates
• paralyzes
• damages
• depletes
• cripples
• depresses
• devitalizes
• prostrates
• impairs
• harms
• etiolates
• impoverishes
• incapacitates
• disables
• hamstrings
• grinds (down)
• invalids
• wears out
• lays up
• washes out
• wears down
• unmans
• breaks down

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• strengthens
• fortifies
• recruits
• energizes
• invigorates
• rejuvenates
• vitalizes
• seasons
• beefs (up)
• hardens
• toughens

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of wastes

Noun

According to the International Maritime Organization, biofouling wastes about 10% of all fuel used by the world's shipping fleets. — Christopher Cann, USA Today, 2 Aug. 2026

There are numerous federal regulations from different agencies around discharges of radium to the environment, but many do not directly apply to oil and gas wastes. — Nathaniel Warner, The Conversation, 24 July 2026

But watering the lawn in summer wastes water, which can be expensive. — Lee Wallender, The Spruce, 20 July 2026

In 2015, a battery recycling plant that had been operating in Vernon for decades had to close down and pay $50 million toward cleaning up its hazardous wastes such as lead dust, cadmium and arsenic. — Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2026

Sending spent batteries to landfills wastes valuable materials and years of remaining electrochemical life. — IEEE Spectrum, 2 July 2026

Being under 5-foot-4 can make clothes shopping tough—pants drag, dresses hang long, and constant tailoring wastes time and money. — Melony Forcier, InStyle, 24 June 2026

Nolan and the cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, wielding heavy IMAX cameras, shot their picture across the Mediterranean and beyond, in caves, castles, beaches, black-sand wastes, and open water. — David Denby, New Yorker, 21 June 2026

Buying less food wastes less of it, and the roughly 700 million tons of CO₂ equivalent lost annually to food-system waste scales down with the volume. — Tenzin Seldon, Fortune, 21 June 2026

Verb

The same on-premises assumption wastes money in a second way. — Michael Leone, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026

Donating unsuitable items wastes time and resources, so focus on clean, usable pieces. — Abby Monteil, The Spruce, 28 July 2026

False-positive rates matter operationally, as acting on a misclassification wastes resources and might reveal sensor positions. — Aditya Jadhav, Interesting Engineering, 24 July 2026

Indeed, Congress periodically engages in a debt ceiling charade, which wastes a lot of time and energy and limits nothing. — Steve H. Hanke, Fortune, 15 July 2026

Beth wastes no time shutting down the conversation. — Samantha Stutsman, PEOPLE, 13 June 2026

Instead, Greenbaum, who did far better and smarter work with many of the same people in Too Funny to Fail and Will & Harper, wastes time on a voiceover device that’s too cutesy to be worth the effort and a three-act structure that’s more for the benefit of his editors than the audience. — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 10 June 2026

Justin Stasiw’s soundscape wastes no time throwing the audience into Mumbai, where vehicles, whistles and rickshaws harshly yet thrillingly enter the ears. — David John Chávez, Mercury News, 3 June 2026

Petras wastes no time arguing this case for herself. — Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 3 June 2026