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

Reynolds’ impostor syndrome didn’t dissipate once she got to set, particularly as Episode 2 pits Alice against Rebecca.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 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

On hotter days, koalas regulate body temperature by hugging trees to dissipate heat or seeking out denser foliage and lower trees away from direct sunlight.

From Barron's ● May 26, 2026

The usual cloud that turned the air brown and silty, but this time it failed to dissipate.

From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz

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

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

I return to my search, and hope this buzzy feeling dissipates.

From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton

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

Troops are now readying for the challenges that the scorching summer might bring, but any worries over their families without heat and light in civilian cities have dissipated.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 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

That view hasn’t fully dissipated, but it has become less certain.

From Barron's ● Apr. 8, 2026

We can’t go towards the camp until I know the toxin has dissipated.

From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera

Most of this low comedy is witless and irrelevant, dissipating the tension.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

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

"It helped me channel my perfectionism, taking it out of the dark and into the light and dissipating that shame."

From BBC ● Feb. 17, 2026

Rishi breathed deeply, the loneliness and the doubt and the brilliant pain of the last month finally dissipating.

From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon

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