dissipated
Americanadjective
adjective
-
indulging without restraint in the pursuit of pleasure; debauched
-
wasted, scattered, or exhausted
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dissipated
Explanation
If your Great Aunt Maude tells you you've become a dissipated bum, she means you don't think of anything but how much fun you're having. If you got a summer job and stopped playing arcade games all day, she might change her tune. The adjective dissipated is used to describe people who've lost their moral center, and instead of following the rules of conventional morals, prefer to be utterly self-indulgent. The word comes from the verb dissipate, which means "to disperse," but as an adjective it's always used for people who've gone wrong in some way. If you really want to lay into someone, use these synonyms and call him a "dissipated, dissolute, debauched, degenerate jerk."
Vocabulary lists containing dissipated
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Donald Trump Inauguration Address- January 20, 2017
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A Room of One's Own
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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.
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
The results initially seemed to quell investors’ worst fears about artificial intelligence encroaching on Monday.com’s business, but the optimism dissipated as the day continued.
From Barron's • May 11, 2026
The soap-bubble fantasy of Ms. Lemann’s New Orleans rather calls to mind the Hundred Acre Wood, if Christopher Robin were a gentle, dissipated loafer in a wrinkled seersucker suit.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026
The power they had in qualification dissipated during the warm-up games.
From BBC • Mar. 28, 2026
Kymopoleia waved her hand and the murky clouds dissipated.
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
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.
