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dissipate

[dis-uh-peyt]
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verb (used with object), dis·si·pat·ed, dis·si·pat·ing.
  1. to scatter in various directions; disperse; dispel.
  2. to spend or use wastefully or extravagantly; squander; deplete: to dissipate one's talents; to dissipate a fortune on high living.
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verb (used without object), dis·si·pat·ed, dis·si·pat·ing.
  1. to become scattered or dispersed; be dispelled; disintegrate: The sun shone and the mist dissipated.
  2. to indulge in extravagant, intemperate, or dissolute pleasure.
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Origin of dissipate

1525–35; < Latin dissipātus (past participle of dissipāre, dissupāre to scatter); see -ate1
Related formsdis·si·pat·er, dis·si·pa·tor, noundis·si·pa·tive, adjectivedis·si·pa·tiv·i·ty [dis-uh-puh-tiv-i-tee] /ˌdɪs ə pəˈtɪv ɪ ti/, nounnon·dis·si·pa·tive, adjective

Synonyms

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1. See scatter. 3. disappear, vanish.

Antonyms

1, 3. unite.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for dissipating

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • The scene steadied; the whiteness was dissipating like mist in summer.

    Pygmalion's Spectacles

    Stanley Grauman Weinbaum

  • Over us, the barrage curtain was dissipating, sight and sound coming in to us.

    Wandl the Invader

    Raymond King Cummings

  • The last word had been that the two had grounded and that the weather front was dissipating.

    Attrition

    Jim Wannamaker

  • I did not mind his dissipating my own fortune; the money is nothing to me.

    The Secret House

    Edgar Wallace

  • "Dissipating hard, I suppose you mean," said the doctor with a smile.

    The Threatening Eye

    Edward Frederick Knight

British Dictionary definitions for dissipating

dissipate

verb
  1. to exhaust or be exhausted by dispersion
  2. (tr) to scatter or break up
  3. (intr) to indulge in the pursuit of pleasure
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Derived Formsdissipater or dissipator, noundissipative, adjective

Word Origin

C15: from Latin dissipāre to disperse, from dis- 1 + supāre to throw
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

Word Origin and History for dissipating

dissipate

v.

early 15c., from Latin dissipatus, past participle of dissipare "to spread abroad, scatter, disperse; squander, disintegrate," from dis- "apart" (see dis-) + supare "to throw, scatter," from PIE *swep- "to throw, sling, cast" (cf. Lithuanian supu "to swing, rock," Old Church Slavonic supo "to strew"). Related: Dissipated; dissipates; dissipating.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper