as in wasteful
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1
as in spending
to use up carelessly
he wasted his lottery winnings on booze-soaked nights with gold diggers
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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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in weakening
to diminish the physical strength of
endless months of inactivity wasted him
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Example Sentences
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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
Emily Adams, Hartford Courant, 9 Mar. 2026
Then came the outbreak of a wasting illness called stony coral tissue loss disease - which spread from the area near the Port of Miami around the time of its 2014 dredging project - and a record heat wave in 2023.
—Arkansas Online, 8 Mar. 2026
Avoid wasting time by sticking to the heart of whatever’s going on.
—Tarot.com, New York Daily News, 8 Mar. 2026
Insiders told Variety that instead of wasting further money through trying to compete with Showmax as a struggling stand-alone streamer, Canal+ is likely to expand its partnership and roll out this Netflix-bundling into the rest of Africa.
—Thinus Ferreira, Variety, 5 Mar. 2026
Ahead are seven travel essentials that help prevent common time-wasting scenarios at security checkpoints.
—Amelia McBride, Travel + Leisure, 5 Mar. 2026
City’s time wasting through those six minutes, including a booking for Rayan Ait-Nouri, should have meant Bankes played for longer, in Riemer’s and Farke’s eyes.
—Beren Cross, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
How much was that, and not wasting their last opportunity together, on their minds?
—Tom Mulherin, Boston Herald, 1 Mar. 2026
This difference in architecture over continuous streams requires careful selection of intervals, packetization, codec forming and appropriate models to determine parameters that meet deadlines without wasting airtime.
—IEEE Spectrum, 26 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
UConn has nothing left to prove, so Auriemma sees no value in wasting energy worrying about where his team is going to land when the bracket goes live on Selection Sunday.
—Emily Adams, Hartford Courant, 9 Mar. 2026
Then came the outbreak of a wasting illness called stony coral tissue loss disease - which spread from the area near the Port of Miami around the time of its 2014 dredging project - and a record heat wave in 2023.
—Arkansas Online, 8 Mar. 2026
Avoid wasting time by sticking to the heart of whatever’s going on.
—Tarot.com, New York Daily News, 8 Mar. 2026
Insiders told Variety that instead of wasting further money through trying to compete with Showmax as a struggling stand-alone streamer, Canal+ is likely to expand its partnership and roll out this Netflix-bundling into the rest of Africa.
—Thinus Ferreira, Variety, 5 Mar. 2026
Ahead are seven travel essentials that help prevent common time-wasting scenarios at security checkpoints.
—Amelia McBride, Travel + Leisure, 5 Mar. 2026
City’s time wasting through those six minutes, including a booking for Rayan Ait-Nouri, should have meant Bankes played for longer, in Riemer’s and Farke’s eyes.
—Beren Cross, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
How much was that, and not wasting their last opportunity together, on their minds?
—Tom Mulherin, Boston Herald, 1 Mar. 2026
This difference in architecture over continuous streams requires careful selection of intervals, packetization, codec forming and appropriate models to determine parameters that meet deadlines without wasting airtime.
—IEEE Spectrum, 26 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wasting
Adjective
-
Is the packaging consciously designed or needlessly wasteful?—
Lily Wohlner,
Allure,
5 Mar. 2026
-
Tinderholt’s goals as commissioner include lower property taxes, fully funded law enforcement, eliminating wasteful spending, economic growth and election integrity, per his website.—
Rachel Royster
Updated March 3,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
4 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Carmen Mejia, who was declared innocent after spending more than 20 years behind bars for a wrongful conviction in a child's death in Texas, faces deportation to her native Honduras because her immigration status lapsed while she was incarcerated, her attorneys said.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
12 Mar. 2026
-
At the time, several regional experts told me that top security and political figures inside the Iraqi Shiite militias and the Houthis were limiting their use of technology, using burner phones and spending minimal time online to prevent Israel from tracking them.—
Sudarsan Raghavan,
New Yorker,
12 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The beams would be far brighter than the full moon and, even if carefully pointed, would scatter in the atmosphere to be very bright off-beam, disrupting wildlife and effectively destroying the sky’s remaining natural beauty by erasing the stars from our sight.—
Phil Plait,
Scientific American,
6 Mar. 2026
-
An estimated 50,000 pounds of ice collapsed the sanctuary roof, destroying nearly everything.—
Marvin Hurst,
CBS News,
6 Mar. 2026
Verb
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That hasn’t happened, and attacks continue to fly, potentially weakening the eventual GOP nominee.—
Burgess Everett,
semafor.com,
9 Mar. 2026
-
Bank of England officials will now have to weigh the risks of weakening demand in the UK economy, against surging oil and gas prices.—
Irina Anghel,
Bloomberg,
9 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Remember the Wolverines started the Southern Section Open Division playoffs last month as an afterthought after losing three of the last four regular-season games.—
Eric Sondheimer,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Mar. 2026
-
Avoid puddles - Driving into puddles or low rainwater areas can lead to vehicles hydroplaning or losing control.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
8 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Trump has long mocked Bush for ruining his presidency by invading Iraq, and his administration over the past week has sought to downplay any parallels between Bush’s misadventures and its own attack on Iran.—
Vivian Salama,
The Atlantic,
6 Mar. 2026
-
The White House believed that that Iran was intentionally ruining the Mideast peace process, and then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich had called Iran the most dangerous nation on Earth.—
Brit McCandless Farmer,
CBS News,
28 Feb. 2026
Verb
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To be more sensitive to modern audiences, O’Brien said that Howl’s revival would take fewer song requests while softening the onstage comedy bits, adding that its modern music and food menu of wings and flatbreads would also drive the bar’s success.—
Phillip Valys,
Sun Sentinel,
10 Mar. 2026
-
The sum of these ingredients is firming, tightening, brightening, tone-evening, softening, moisturizing, and wrinkle-smoothing benefits.—
Tamim Alnuweiri,
InStyle,
10 Mar. 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 13 Mar. 2026.
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