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

• dissolutely adverb
• dissoluteness noun
• undissolute adjective

Etymology

Origin of dissolute

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

Example Sentences

Minutes later, these new friends cross the threshold into George and Martha’s dissolute tempest.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 23, 2025

But the show gets some mileage out of it, including a guest spot by James Van Der Beek, Dawson himself, as a dissolute older member.

From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2025

“People wanted to move up to guitar. I don’t know why. I guess Johnny Thunders was cooler,” he adds of the famously dissolute New York Dolls member.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 27, 2024

This is a grim continuum on which to exist, skating between the poles of high-achieving hustler and dissolute layabout.

From New York Times • Feb. 17, 2024

The dazzle of this fictive childhood—full of swimming pools and orange groves and dissolute, charming show-biz parents—has all but eclipsed the drab original.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt