dissipate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
dissipates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dissipated,
past participle, past
-
dissipating
present participle
-
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)
-
dissipates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dissipated,
past participle, past
-
dissipating
present participle
verb
-
to exhaust or be exhausted by dispersion
-
(tr) to scatter or break up
-
(intr) to indulge in the pursuit of pleasure
Synonym Usage
See scatter.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
dissipatesimple
-
dissipatessimple
-
have dissipatedperfect
-
has dissipatedperfect
-
am dissipatingprogressive
-
are dissipatingprogressive
-
is dissipatingprogressive
-
have been dissipatingperfect progressive
-
has been dissipatingperfect progressive
Past
-
dissipatedsimple
-
had dissipatedperfect
-
was dissipatingprogressive
-
were dissipatingprogressive
-
had been dissipatingperfect progressive
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."
Vocabulary lists containing dissipate
List 1
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Night
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The Lightning Thief
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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:
“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
The International Monetary Fund chief on Monday welcomed the ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iran, but warned it would take time for energy and other supply disruptions to dissipate.
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
The uncertainty that lived inside me began to dissipate; the ache that the little boy who stared in the mirror felt was gone.
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
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
Sunday: As the storm dissipates, most areas are projected to get 0.1 inch or less.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2025
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
As I struggle to get up, the crowd around me slowly dissipates.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
Wildlife experts and conservationists had previously observed that, in the wake of the storm, Tapanuli orangutan sightings had dissipated - fuelling speculation that the great apes may have been swept away by floods and landslides.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
If they are, will voters’ anger have dissipated?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 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
This energy is dissipated as heat, and increases the amount of disorder in the universe.
From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking
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
"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
For a while, investors cheered the dissipating fog, with the Nasdaq composite surging as much as 2.6%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025
The loss against League Two opposition marks a new low for the Premier League side under Amorim and any optimism evident prior to the new campaign is already dissipating.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2025
Few lights burned; but from a half-dozen chimneys slow, almost phosphorescent pinon smoke emerged, dissipating in a flat way over the town, seeping into bushy cottonwood foliage.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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.
