squander
Americanverb
-
to spend wastefully or extravagantly; dissipate
-
an obsolete word for scatter
noun
Synonym Usage
See spend.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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squandersimple
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squanderssimple
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have squanderedperfect
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has squanderedperfect
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am squanderingprogressive
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are squanderingprogressive
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is squanderingprogressive
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have been squanderingperfect progressive
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has been squanderingperfect progressive
Past
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squanderedsimple
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had squanderedperfect
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was squanderingprogressive
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were squanderingprogressive
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had been squanderingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of squander
First recorded in 1585–95; origin uncertain
Explanation
To squander means to spend extravagantly, thoughtlessly, or wastefully. If you need to save for college, don't squander your income on nightly sushi dinners. Squander used to mean scatter, and the way we use it now implies throwing something (like money) all over the place. You can squander time as well as money. If you have a big deadline but you are chatting away or looking at social networking sites, you are squandering your time. If you have an opportunity to play for a major league baseball team but show up late to tryouts and criticize the coach, you have probably squandered your chance.
Vocabulary lists containing squander
Fahrenheit 451
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Touching Spirit Bear
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Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
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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.
See Examples For:
Kostrzewa was one of several Polish executives who signed an appeal to both governments urging them not to "squander" their close ties.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
But then comes the disappointment as Croatia equalise, before we take the lead again only to squander it and go in at half time with the match evenly poised at 2-2.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
After losing in straight sets to Rishvanth Krishna from Irvine University in last year’s final, Huarte was not about to squander his second chance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 25, 2026
The aim is to avoid the fighting that has destroyed fortunes and left relatives battling in court, or just make sure younger generations don’t squander the fortune.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2025
His greatest weakness is instant lottery tickets, what he calls “los scratch,” and he sheepishly confesses that he can squander as much as $75 a week on them.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
Carrie-Anne Moss of “The Matrix” makes for an ideal veteran Jedi, but in its first misstep, “The Acolyte” squanders that opportunity right out of the gate, setting viewers up for disappointment.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 4, 2024
Trym knows too well how the human touch squanders a wild animal’s dignity.
From Slate ● Dec. 24, 2022
Food waste not only squanders natural resources, money and effort, it degrades the environment.
From Salon ● Nov. 19, 2022
In adapting Christie’s book more than 80 years later, Branagh had a chance to humanize the Egyptians but he squanders the opportunity, failing to even acknowledge the voyage’s context.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2022
I’m just the pretty mischief-maker who squanders the dollars, and by and by, when self-pity sets in, they find there is a mutual bond of admiration and sympathy.
From The Gorgeous Girl by Nalbro Bartley
For a company that has owned a pioneering AI lab since 2014 and has proclaimed itself “AI-first” since 2016, Google seems to have squandered an early lead, experts say.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
Garcia argued Jester should receive the longest punishment allowed by law — five years — because he’d squandered an earlier chance at redemption.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Fritz squandered a pair of match points at 40-15 and gave himself another with a booming forehand.
From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026
Parchment was too valuable to be squandered on a blank background; every inch that did not bear graphic information was trimmed away for use elsewhere.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026
Money, time, and energy squandered on the detailed analysis of the trivial.
From "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes
For now, he keeps squandering his Marvel breaks on whiffs like “Cherry” and “Uncharted.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
I can definitely understand why there might not be, let’s say, a surplus of empathy for a privileged young man carelessly and repeatedly squandering his expensive education.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
However, in the tie-break, Sinner upped his first serves and after squandering the first of two set points, an Alcaraz double fault gave him the initiative in the match.
From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2026
“And that results in squandering more opportunities than gaining ground in negotiations.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026
The passenger pigeon remained an emblem of natural bounty, but now it also represented the squandering of that bounty.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
