waste
verb (used with object)
to consume, spend, or employ uselessly or without adequate return; use to no avail or profit; squander.
have been wasting
-
present perfect progressiveof waste.present perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that began in the past, has continued continuously, and is still in progress.
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.
You have been wasting your time primarily on Bluesky, rather than X, for half a year now.
From Slate ● Jun. 12, 2025
"I was very conscious by having all these tests I could have been wasting NHS resources to satisfy my own conviction that I had Covid. I felt like I was being unnecessarily neurotic."
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2021
And Brenner, then a platoon commander in his mid-20s, thought it was a good idea to get “19-year-olds to read books and use their brains when they would otherwise have been wasting away.”
From Washington Post ● Sep. 1, 2021
Ideally, nobody should have been wasting their time with this B-grade movie, but that was another matter.
From New York Times ● Jun. 19, 2012
“Mr. Hoodhood,” said Mrs. Baker, “we have been wasting our opportunities.”
From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt
