misspent

[ mis-spent ]

verb

1. simple past tense and past participle of misspend.

adjective

1. spent wrongly or unwisely; wasted:

   misspent youth.

Word History and Origins

Origin of misspent¹

First recorded in 1425–75, for the adjective

Example Sentences

And in 2008, a U.S. official told The Guardian that as much as 70 percent of U.S. military aid had been “misspent.”

From The Daily Beast

Misspent moments are so much of life and character thrown away; be careful to use them all in God's service.

From Project Gutenberg

This may appear for us a toilsome task, but if the reader be not fatigued also, our time will not be misspent.

From Project Gutenberg

Be silent, man, if you do not wish your sinful, misspent life to come to a sudden and violent end.

From Project Gutenberg

There is one way in which leisure is very generally misspent in school—and alas, outside, too!

From Project Gutenberg

And for me—I'm not that presoomtious to think I can square up a misspent life as a man might compound wi's creditors.

From Project Gutenberg