dissipate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
dissipates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dissipated,
past participle, past
-
dissipating
present participle
-
to scatter in various directions; disperse; dispel.
- Antonyms:
- unite
-
to spend or use wastefully or extravagantly; squander; deplete.
to dissipate one's talents; to dissipate a fortune on high living.
verb (used without object)
-
dissipates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dissipated,
past participle, past
-
dissipating
present participle
verb
-
to exhaust or be exhausted by dispersion
-
(tr) to scatter or break up
-
(intr) to indulge in the pursuit of pleasure
Synonym Usage
See scatter.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
dissipatesimple
-
dissipatessimple
-
have dissipatedperfect
-
has dissipatedperfect
-
am dissipatingprogressive
-
are dissipatingprogressive
-
is dissipatingprogressive
-
have been dissipatingperfect progressive
-
has been dissipatingperfect progressive
Past
-
dissipatedsimple
-
had dissipatedperfect
-
was dissipatingprogressive
-
were dissipatingprogressive
-
had been dissipatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dissipate
First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin dissipātus (past participle of dissipāre, dissupāre “to scatter”); see -ate 1
Explanation
To dissipate is to disperse or fade away — as a bad smell will dissipate (usually) if you wait long enough. Dissipate can also mean “spend or use wastefully.” If you win the lottery, you might suddenly find yourself with a group of new friends encouraging you to dissipate your money (on them). Note that dissipate can be used with or without an object: "Once you dissipate your wealth, your new group of friends will dissipate without a trace."
Vocabulary lists containing dissipate
List 1
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Night
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
The Lightning Thief
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
A column of black smoke rose over the Miramar air station early Friday, according to images captured on Alert California cameras, but the fire appeared to dissipate quickly.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
Whether Microsoft’s report will cause “bear concerns” to dissipate is still up for debate.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
When Morocco's energy started to dissipate, it became a contest.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026
In a fast-return scenario, flows could rebound rapidly and even briefly exceed pre-war levels if security concerns fully dissipate, though this outcome is considered unlikely, Matt Wright and Panagiotis Krontiras say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
In the Frontier, revelers’ voices receded, seemed almost to dissipate like a morning mist.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
Those drivers will reassert themselves as geopolitical stress dissipates, they said.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 15, 2026
Soccer’s governing body takes the heat, making a bet that once games begin and international mania takes over, the fury dissipates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
The negativity dissipates as a young man walks into the clubhouse, baseball cap on backward for the moment, energetic and respectful and joyful and supremely confident.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2026
Boron arsenide has the potential to revolutionize electronics and semiconductor technology by providing a material that both dissipates heat effectively and performs as a high-quality semiconductor.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 12, 2025
As it dissipates, I descend the steps, faked message in hand.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
"The spirit of Anchorage has dissipated," said Russian political analyst Fyodor Lukyanov -- close to the ruling elite -- in August.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
But “these early effects rapidly dissipated in elementary school,” the study found, and participants performed no better academically by third grade.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
If there was any bad blood between Paxton and Middleton over these clashes, it seems to have dissipated in the years since.
From Salon ● May 23, 2026
For three weeks, McFarland and Brune followed short-lived storms that dissipated quickly, leaving them without useful data.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 21, 2026
It reminded her of their first forlorn tête-à-tête, on the evening of Mrs. Weston’s wedding-day; but Mr. Knightley had walked in then, soon after tea, and dissipated every melancholy fancy.
From "Emma" by Jane Austen
Plus, I was famished with the kind of hunger that accompanies the dissipating stress after leaving the dentist.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
While the colder climate of space holds appeal for some backers of the galactic data-center vision, “there’s no airflow,” Huang noted, which could present challenges when it comes to dissipating heat.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 25, 2026
Services prices increased at a slightly slower pace following three straight months of faster rises, indicating some key price pressures in the currency area are dissipating.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 7, 2026
"The gas behaves like a perfect conductor; even though countless collisions occur between the atoms, quantities like mass and energy flow freely, without dissipating into the system."
From Science Daily ● Jan. 7, 2026
He felt the tingle in his skin dissipating.
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
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.
