as in wasteful
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
1
as in spending
to use up carelessly
he wasted his lottery winnings on booze-soaked nights with gold diggers
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in destroying
to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of
one country attempting to waste another
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in weakening
to diminish the physical strength of
endless months of inactivity wasted him
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of wasting
Stephanie Osmanski, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Jan. 2026
Owning my gear has significantly streamlined my travel experience — no more wasting time in long rental lines, dealing with mystery-smelling boots that have seen better days, or forking out cash for rentals every season.
—Erica Paige, Travel + Leisure, 8 Jan. 2025
No more wasting time.
—Dallas News, 4 Oct. 2022
One that’s too large may be overkill, using up too much electricity and unnecessarily wasting floor space.
—Brett Dvoretz, chicagotribune.com, 1 Apr. 2021
The highly contagious disease was so wasting and terrifying that those who died of it were believed to leave their graves, infecting relatives and draining away blood and life, scholars have said.
—Author: Michael E. Ruane, Anchorage Daily News, 1 Aug. 2019
Charlotte Observer, 11 Feb. 2026
Food systems will not be improved by individuals buying water-wasting organic cashews harvested by underpaid migrant workers in deadly temperatures.
—Annie Levin, Washington Post, 10 Feb. 2026
This low-budget-looking spot was way more successful than the company's previous 2000 Super Bowl ad, the one that bragged about wasting 2 million bucks while showing a monkey dancing on a bucket.
—Debby Wolfinsohn, Entertainment Weekly, 8 Feb. 2026
When Ali Ansari was 12, living with his family in a single room at his aunt’s house in Woodland Hills, his immigrant mother told him to stop wasting time staring at his phone and try making money with it.
—Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2026
Remember when the talk was wasting Dan Marino’s career?
—Dave Hyde, Sun Sentinel, 7 Feb. 2026
This means your home should warm up quickly again once the windows are closed, without wasting much energy.
—Sophia Beams, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Feb. 2026
Knowing when to use a space heater can make your home cozier without wasting energy.
—Ashlyn Needham, Southern Living, 6 Feb. 2026
Federal agencies will be in charge of setting up job protections for their own employees who accuse them of wrongdoing, such as violating the law or wasting money.
—Courtney Rozen, USA Today, 5 Feb. 2026
Adjective
No more wasting time using a cutter or, even worse, shredding by hand.
—Stephanie Osmanski, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Jan. 2026
Owning my gear has significantly streamlined my travel experience — no more wasting time in long rental lines, dealing with mystery-smelling boots that have seen better days, or forking out cash for rentals every season.
—Erica Paige, Travel + Leisure, 8 Jan. 2025
No more wasting time.
—Dallas News, 4 Oct. 2022
One that’s too large may be overkill, using up too much electricity and unnecessarily wasting floor space.
—Brett Dvoretz, chicagotribune.com, 1 Apr. 2021
The highly contagious disease was so wasting and terrifying that those who died of it were believed to leave their graves, infecting relatives and draining away blood and life, scholars have said.
—Author: Michael E. Ruane, Anchorage Daily News, 1 Aug. 2019
Verb
Federal overreach has failed our children, with literacy rates falling and a bloated federal budget wasting taxpayer dollars.
—Charlotte Observer, 11 Feb. 2026
Food systems will not be improved by individuals buying water-wasting organic cashews harvested by underpaid migrant workers in deadly temperatures.
—Annie Levin, Washington Post, 10 Feb. 2026
This low-budget-looking spot was way more successful than the company's previous 2000 Super Bowl ad, the one that bragged about wasting 2 million bucks while showing a monkey dancing on a bucket.
—Debby Wolfinsohn, Entertainment Weekly, 8 Feb. 2026
When Ali Ansari was 12, living with his family in a single room at his aunt’s house in Woodland Hills, his immigrant mother told him to stop wasting time staring at his phone and try making money with it.
—Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2026
Remember when the talk was wasting Dan Marino’s career?
—Dave Hyde, Sun Sentinel, 7 Feb. 2026
This means your home should warm up quickly again once the windows are closed, without wasting much energy.
—Sophia Beams, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Feb. 2026
Knowing when to use a space heater can make your home cozier without wasting energy.
—Ashlyn Needham, Southern Living, 6 Feb. 2026
Federal agencies will be in charge of setting up job protections for their own employees who accuse them of wrongdoing, such as violating the law or wasting money.
—Courtney Rozen, USA Today, 5 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wasting
Adjective
-
Democrats have slammed the spending on immigration enforcement as wasteful, and applauded to move to require the fund to only be spent on preparing for and recovering from natural disasters.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
17 Feb. 2026
-
Unless regulators crack down on these deepfakes, the videos threaten to steer even more patients toward wasteful, potentially dangerous purchases — while further undermining the public’s already faltering trust in medical institutions.—
John Whyte,
STAT,
17 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The fiscal angst is most obvious in urban school districts, where enrollment declines are most severe and where unions are the strongest, often spending heavily to elect friendly school board members.—
Dan Walters,
Mercury News,
18 Feb. 2026
-
Pritzker’s $56 billion election-year budget plan represents one of the smallest increases in state spending the governor has proposed since the governor took office in 2019.—
Rick Pearson,
Chicago Tribune,
18 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The firestorm ravaged Pacific Palisades and Altadena, killing 31, destroying more than 16,000 structures and contaminating others with toxins and heavy metals.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Feb. 2026
-
Special prosecutors indict Kim Keon Hee and former Prime Minister Han on charges of abetting Yoon’s imposition of martial law, falsifying and destroying official documents and lying under oath.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
There is, at present, some evidence for dark energy weakening over time, although the results from the DESI collaboration, which provide the strongest evidence to date for such a scenario, are highly ambiguous.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
20 Feb. 2026
-
Evidenced by no-confidence votes and faculty demonstrations, a sizable number of professors hold weakening trust in their institution's administrators.—
Cate Charron,
IndyStar,
18 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Because of that, most of the men and women who are losing their lives on the front lines are married with children – and Ukraine is becoming a country of widows and orphans.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
22 Feb. 2026
-
Without losing its boutique intimacy, the Junior Suites and Miramar Suites offer more breathing room, many with separate living areas and kitchenettes that make longer stays feel seamless.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
22 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Doomscrolling was ruining my life.—
Julia Gomez,
USA Today,
21 Feb. 2026
-
Wednesday was a repeat, with flies and rodent poop ruining the callback inspection.—
David J. Neal,
Miami Herald,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Your protective nature can close up quickly, but softening your tone and naming your needs invites deeper closeness without losing your boundaries.—
Tarot.com,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Feb. 2026
-
Blacksmiths have relied on the softening glow of the forge since the Iron Age, and Metallurgy 101 dictates that thermal energy makes atoms slide past each other with ease.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
16 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
This season on the road, Newcastle have been particularly profligate in possession.—
Chris Waugh,
New York Times,
5 Jan. 2026
-
The profligate spending of the Biden administration and the monetary mismanagement of the Federal Reserve caused both home prices and interest rates to skyrocket, a deadly one-two punch that knocked out the housing market.—
E.J. Antoni,
Mercury News,
28 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Wasting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wasting. Accessed 23 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
