misspend

American  

[mis-spend] / mɪsˈspɛnd /

verb (used with object)

misspent, misspending

1. to spend wrongly or unwisely; squander; waste.

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misspend British  

/ ˌmɪsˈspɛnd /

verb

1. to spend thoughtlessly or wastefully

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Other Word Forms

• misspender noun

Etymology

Origin of misspend

1350–1400; Middle English. See mis- ¹, spend

Example Sentences

At the time, a county spokesperson declined to comment on whether any money had been misspent, stating only that the decision was made “without stating a specific breach of contract by the other party.”

From Los Angeles Times

She plans out every part of the trip to avoid even one misspent moment.

From The Wall Street Journal

“If we end up misspending a couple of hundred billion dollars, I think that that is going to be very unfortunate, obviously,” Zuckerberg said in a September podcast.

From Barron's

Dame Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the Commons treasury committee, said "we need to have answers" to ensure taxpayers' money was not being misspent.

From BBC

“If we end up misspending a couple of hundred billion dollars, I think that that is going to be very unfortunate obviously,” Meta Platforms Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg recently acknowledged.

From The Wall Street Journal