verb
adjective
-
used up or exhausted; consumed
-
(of a fish) exhausted by spawning
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of spent
First recorded in 1425–75, for the adjective
Explanation
If you're spent, you are completely worn out or exhausted. Almost everyone feels completely spent after climbing a mountain or running a marathon. When you're spent, you've used up your reserves of energy, and when a physical item is spent, it's outlived its usefulness. Spent fuel, for example, has been burned and can no longer power a machine, and a rocket might power a space shuttle until it's spent and falls away. The adjective spent comes from the verb spend, "to pay out," which has the Latin root expendere, "to pay down."
Vocabulary lists containing spent
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Mark DiCamillo, the director of the Berkeley IGS Poll, defended the methodology, saying he has spent 45 years polling in California and eight years running the Berkeley IGS Poll.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
Macklemore said he had spent the last week contacting artists who had used their platforms to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people, regardless of the consequences.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
Two things can be true at once: Your mother can be anxious about needing more care, and have spent $100,000 of her savings on her son’s down payment.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
A worker who spent 20 years mastering a craft isn’t wrong to feel concerned.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Clare spent half his days tending to their whims, but they were a sweet little bunch—adorable, really—short pink stems topped by clusters of yellow buttons.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
