spent

American  

[spent] / spɛnt /

verb

1. simple past tense and past participle of spend.

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adjective

1. tired; worn-out; exhausted.

   Synonyms:

   fatigued, weary

2. used up; consumed.

spent British  

/ spɛnt /

verb

1. the past tense and past participle of spend

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adjective

1. used up or exhausted; consumed

2. (of a fish) exhausted by spawning

Other Word Forms

• well-spent adjective

Etymology

Origin of spent

First recorded in 1425–75, for the adjective

Explanation

If you're spent, you are completely worn out or exhausted. Almost everyone feels completely spent after climbing a mountain or running a marathon. When you're spent, you've used up your reserves of energy, and when a physical item is spent, it's outlived its usefulness. Spent fuel, for example, has been burned and can no longer power a machine, and a rocket might power a space shuttle until it's spent and falls away. The adjective spent comes from the verb spend, "to pay out," which has the Latin root expendere, "to pay down."

Example Sentences

But that pales in comparison to the money being spent by some media and other companies that produce their own bashes.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 24, 2026

A startup called LiquidPiston has spent more than a decade developing a new kind of rotary engine—including the X Mini shown here—that it says can be both more efficient and compact than traditional piston engines.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

His last day with sight was spent at a USC practice.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2026

The figures showed that patients spent an average of 21-and-a-half hours in Altnagelvin's emergency department last month before being admitted to the Londonderry hospital.

From BBC • Apr. 24, 2026

He and Maggie spent two weeks together before he left for England.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

Related Words

• dead
• finished
• lost
• used
• wasted