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Synonyms

dissipate

American

[dis-uh-peyt] / ˈdɪs əˌpeɪt /

verb (used with object)

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)

to become scattered or dispersed; be dispelled; disintegrate.

The sun shone and the mist dissipated.

Synonyms:

vanish, disappear

Antonyms:

unite
to indulge in extravagant, intemperate, or dissolute pleasure.

dissipate British

/ ˈdɪsɪˌpeɪt /

verb

to exhaust or be exhausted by dispersion
(tr) to scatter or break up
(intr) to indulge in the pursuit of pleasure

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Synonym Usage

See scatter.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

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."

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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.

See Examples For:

dissipate dissipates dissipated dissipating

At any given moment, Scott Free has upward of 40 projects in development, although Scott says some of those eventually dissipate.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

“The pattern keeps repeating—initial enthusiasm when negotiations appear promising, only for that optimism to dissipate just as quickly,” analysts at ING said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 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

Clara nodded and began to dissipate into nothing.

From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland

VIX futures can lose dramatically if VIX is declining and their time value premium dissipates.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 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

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

During the seven-minute walk to the restaurant, the fog dissipates.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2025

I need power to move or I'll be stranded until the storm passes or dissipates.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir

"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

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

In recent days, those threats have dissipated, at least for now.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 12, 2026

Newton noted that the matter in the tails of comets is dissipated in interplanetary space, lost to the comet and little by little attracted gravitationally to nearby planets.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

“You can kind of feel people’s anxiety dissipating throughout the day,” Kai says, “so that by the time it’s dinner, everyone’s super comfortable with each other.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 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

Conor looked wide-eyed from the monster to his backyard, which was reemerging from the dissipating mist.

From "A Monster Calls" by Patrick Ness

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023