dissolute
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dissolute
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English (from Anglo-French ), from Latin dissolūtus (past participle of dissolvere “to dissolve”); see dis- 1, solute
Explanation
The adjective dissolute means unrestrained. If you're a dissolute person, you engage in the kinds of behaviors that cause disapproval. If your mother tells you you're dissolute, she's not trying to be kind. Some kinds of unrestrained behavior are good, like if you're unrestrained by fear, and do something very brave. But someone who is dissolute not only goes against the grain of normal behavior, but is wasteful and offensive — over the limit. If you drop out of school, party all the time, and waste your life, you've chosen a dissolute lifestyle.
Vocabulary lists containing dissolute
100 SAT Words Beginning with "D"
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Grade 12, List 6
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"Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne
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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.
Dissolute men pine for wives who have ditched them, and dissolute women carp at no-good boyfriends.
From New York Times • May 30, 2017
In she plunged boldly, No matter how coldly The rough river ran,— Over the brink of it, Picture it—think of it, Dissolute man!
From Harvard Classics Volume 28 Essays English and American by Eliot, Charles William
Dissolute comrades at Memphis won upon his good nature; but though he lent them money, he remained abstemious, working hard, and spending his leisure upon books and experiments.
From Heroes of the Telegraph by Munro, John
Dinner was announced, and Raby placed the Dissolute between his sister and the magnificent Beauty dead Sir Richard had developed.
From Put Yourself in His Place by Reade, Charles
Dissolute, damned, and despairful, crippled and palsied and slain, This is the Will of the Yukon,—Lo! how she makes it plain!
From Songs of a Sourdough by Service, Robert W. (Robert William)
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.
