dissolute

American  

[dis-uh-loot] / ˈdɪs əˌlut /

adjective

1. indifferent to moral restraints; given to immoral or improper conduct; licentious; dissipated.

   Synonyms:

   abandoned, wanton, debauched, loose, corrupt

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dissolute British  

/ ˈdɪsəˌluːt /

adjective

1. given to dissipation; debauched

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• dissoluteness
  noun
• undissolute
  adjective
• dissolutely
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of dissolute

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English (from Anglo-French ), from Latin dissolūtus (past participle of dissolvere “to dissolve”); see dis- ¹, solute

Explanation

The adjective dissolute means unrestrained. If you're a dissolute person, you engage in the kinds of behaviors that cause disapproval. If your mother tells you you're dissolute, she's not trying to be kind. Some kinds of unrestrained behavior are good, like if you're unrestrained by fear, and do something very brave. But someone who is dissolute not only goes against the grain of normal behavior, but is wasteful and offensive — over the limit. If you drop out of school, party all the time, and waste your life, you've chosen a dissolute lifestyle.

Example Sentences

Dissolute men pine for wives who have ditched them, and dissolute women carp at no-good boyfriends.

From New York Times • May 30, 2017

Seven years after Charles the Dissolute had obtained what is now the most valuable colonial possession of Great Britain, he ceded it to the Honourable East India Company—though, of course, for a handsome consideration.

From The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 1 by Whymper, Frederick

Dissolute, as all men of that epoch had become, he differed from all of them in his epicureanism.

From Historia Amoris: A History of Love, Ancient and Modern by Saltus, Edgar

Dissolute, damned, and despairful, crippled and palsied and slain, This is the Will of the Yukon,—Lo! how she makes it plain!

From Songs of a Sourdough by Service, Robert W. (Robert William)

In she plunged boldly,— No matter how coldly The dark river ran,— Over the brink of it, Picture it,—think of it, Dissolute Man!

From The Ontario Readers: The High School Reader, 1886 by Ontario. Ministry of Education